Be Blinded By the Truth
by generalquistis
Summary: While Sara Irine is taking care of the injured Skurai because of Freya's orders, she starts seeing images from the past in her head. Is she simply imagining those or did they really happen? But sometimes, a blind heart can lead to bigger mistakes...
1. We Meet Again

Be Blinded By the Truth

By General Quistis

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarök or any of its related stuff… but I own characters in the game ' But those characters won't appear here… Okay, so I don't own anything but maybe just the story plot.

Author's note: Guess what; this is my first effort to write a fic based on the Ragnarök manwah… I don't care if you'll be harsh, but this is my choice. Hey, there's a first time in everything, right? The story starts from some scenes in book 10. If you have the time after reading this, please review. I will really appreciate reviews because it'll tell me how I'm doing. ' So… here goes…

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Chapter One: We Meet Again

            She watched from afar, observing every move Chaos had done to distract Skurai's attention from Iris. Then shifting her gaze onto her younger sister who was being restrained by blocks and could not escape, she narrowed her eyes, scanning her sister's condition. "She's going to die if nobody's able to stop Skurai…" she was thinking silently. But she does not give a damn about them, really, so she just sat still, a quiet observer speculating about the events unfolding before her eyes, just when everybody else knows that she could be away minding her own business.

She shifted her gaze back to Skurai. She had been looking at him repeatedly, as if she is waiting for something to happen to him… and she was feeling something negative about him. She wondered why, but shrugged it all off.

But as she stared, minding his moves and the way he holds Talatsu, a quick image entered her mind… and it was him wearing a Crusader's uniform. Her eyes slightly widened, holding onto her own sword. She knows she has to get rid of all of them… especially Chaos. "He might defeat Chaos… oh well, if he manages to do that, he'll die afterwards…" she thought silently with an slight smile on her face… but her heart was racing.

She kept on observing… waiting for something good to happen… until she witnessed his death.

Thanks to Chaos and Iris.

"I thought he wouldn't die!" Chaos pointed out.

And Iris was finally free.

But she still stood in her secret place, unmoving and feeling so numb all of a sudden. She wanted to attack them already while they are still shaken by the events that just took place, but something was telling her not to. "What is this… happening to me?" she was thinking. She could recall the way Skurai had stared at Iris while she was being restrained by those blocks… one by one filling up until they could completely cover her and suffocate her. It was like something was going on in his mind… but nobody knows what it was that was bothering him.

And Chaos fell to the ground, with Iris panicking but still being restrained by the blocks. Why is she still being restrained by the blocks? Sara wondered to herself. If he's really dead, those blocks would simply disappear… or maybe the spell that he used was really indestructible even with the death of its master? She was not sure; but Fenris Fenrir appeared in the scene and got Iris out of those blocks and let her try to heal Chaos.

Taking a deep breath and shaking slightly with several confusing thoughts in her mind, she slowly backed away, running as fast as she could down the hallways.  She stopped when she saw a trail of blood on the stone floor. Slowly, she looked straight ahead… and saw a crawling Skurai… struggling to get away. But where is Talatsu?

He was bleeding to death, just like Chaos… and he was beginning to lose consciousness.

Mindlessly, she just ran to him and stood before him, stepping slightly at his hand to make him stop. He slowly looked up at her. Seeing and recognizing who she was made him sneer. "Wh…what?"

She just looked down coldly at him.

He smiled. "Sara…" he breathed out her name like his last breath before passing out. Her eyes widened a little as she raised her eyebrows, still looking at him. Her mouth slightly opened and she backed away a little, but still keeping her eyes on him. "What am I doing?" she thought silently. Frowning, she raised her sword, ready to stab him with it to cut his life shorter… but she just fell on her knees, staring hard at him. Closing her eyes, she made a move to stab him with her sword… but it just hit the stone floor beside his unconscious body. She let the sword support her weight as she leaned against it. She felt so numb. Her gaze softened before turning to him, letting go of her sword when she realized that she was kneeling on his pool of blood. The blood stained her cape, her boots and her legs…

Slowly, she reached for his hand that she had stepped upon moments ago and took it in her grasp. As she did so, she thought she saw again the image of him wearing a Crusader's uniform, holding a beautiful young girl's hand. She let go of him, shaking her head in confusion and denial and backed off a little, but she slipped on the blood and fell backward in a sitting position, the blood splashing against her face and the rest of her body. She was panting hard as she stared hard at him, like she was looking at something that just harmed her pretty badly. Grabbing her sword's handle to support her weight as she tried to stand up, she instantly turned her gaze straight ahead of her and Skurai when she heard footsteps approaching and voices saying, "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Frowning, she instantly bent down and did something that she had not even imagined herself doing…

            Chaos, Iris and Fenris stopped in their tracks when they saw the bloodstained floor and the trail of blood leading ahead of them, just straight ahead.

"What the…" Chaos began.

"He could still be alive!" Iris exclaimed in worry.

Fenris frowned, lowering her gaze onto the floor where she was stepping. She was stepping on blood, but she could see tracks alongside of it… Like someone was dragging something bloody… "I think somebody was here and helped Skurai get out of here before we could see him and finish him off." she explained.

"What do you mean? There was nobody else here but us!" Iris told her.

Fenris looked straight ahead and decided to follow where the tracks and the trail of blood would lead. "There is someone… but who?" she was thinking quietly. The trail of blood led them outside, but once outside, there was nothing else.


	2. Princess

Be Blinded by the Truth

By General Quistis

Chapter Two: Princess

            _She was just seated under a tree located in a nearby forest beside the big castle where she lives. Quietly listening to the birds chirping and smiling softly, she realized that she was not alone with the animals roaming around and coming near her. She slowly turned her gaze towards the person approaching her._

_A crusader.___

_She smiled rather shyly at him and looked away. She knew who he was because he served as the captain of the Crusaders in her kingdom, but her father, the King, had appointed him to become her personal bodyguard. She could remember insisting to her father that she does not need a bodyguard because she can take care of herself and she believed that no harm would befall her even if she was a Princess. But the King was very insistent._

_Shyly, he smiled and sat down beside her. "G…good afternoon, your majesty," was his greeting. It was the first time he got so near the Princess that he was really feeling very nervous._

_She slowly turned to him with an embarrassed look on her face, "Good afternoon, my good guardian. I believe this is the first time we have met personally… will you make known to me your name?" she asked with all the formality that she had been used to, because she was really nervous around him too. She had never had any men come near her before… at least not strangers._

_Slightly, he smiled as he replied with dignity, "Skurai."_

__

            The City of Payon was still in ruins, but the place where the Irines used to reside seemed to still be intact. A little reconstruction and remodeling might do the trick of restoring the whole place, but there was no time for that… at least at that moment when Sara Irine arrived with a wounded cursed prosecutor that she had dragged along with her in a mindless effort to help him.

As she accidentally dropped him onto the floor because of too much exhaustion due to his weight, she plopped down on the floor beside him in a sitting position, panting hard and staring at him unbelievably.

He was still unconscious. She was not even sure if he was still breathing or not. Carefully, she went over to him and felt for a pulse on his neck. It was very weak.

Frowning, she got up and searched for a mattress and some sheets of cloth. Realizing that where she had placed him was an old bedroom (probably the masters' quarters too because of its size), she headed over for the cabinets and began to search. She found an old mattress and some pillows, which had been unbelievably safe from the destruction that she had caused before. With that, she began to set up a bed in one corner of the room.

She heard him moan a little and she stopped, surprised. Turning around, she saw that he had opened his eyes and was looking at her rather blankly, but with a frown on his face.

She shuddered as she swallowed hard before she told him, "Don't say a word." And proceeded back to her work.

His eyes narrowed at her and he smiled rather evilly. "Hmf." He responded, snorting. He watched her as she continued to set up the bed. Afterwards, she got up and turned to face him again. "Can you stand up?" she asked stiffly.

He just stared blankly at her.

Hesitantly, she began to grab him by the shoulders and dragged him over to the mattress on the floor, placing him rather roughly onto it. She saw that she had left a trail of his blood again from the spot where she first placed him up to the mattress.

He slowly turned his gaze to her again.

With that, she knelt down beside him with a solemn look on her face. "This isn't the first time we meet." She told him.

He just smiled evilly at her.

She cringed at seeing him looking like that: bloody, messy, dirty… and the black eyeliner and the black lipstick melting and smudging due to sweat and blood.

"Tell me your name," she told him.

He just kept quiet, still smiling evilly at her. His eyes revealed too much evil and insanity in them, and she could not help but turn away. "My name is Sara." And she got up, leaving him for a while.

Skurai just remained there, feeling so weak. His smile faded away as he slowly closed his eyes, feeling excruciating pain surge through his whole body all of a sudden… but his head felt so light. "Uhh…" he moaned softly, clenching his fists before his trembling right hand traveled slowly onto his bleeding stomach. He lightly touched his wound and winced slightly upon feeling intense pain.

And he chuckled lightly… as if he enjoyed it.

            While Sara was waiting for the basin to be filled with water, she just stared into empty space while playing with the washcloth and seated on the kitchen counter. A lot of bad memories were filling her head, but she just felt like ignoring all of them. She was also thinking whether she should move Skurai out of Payon, otherwise, some travelers or maybe even Chaos himself can locate where he is… while he is supposed to be of some use to her and to her fellow Valkyries.

While in the midst of deep thought, she was interrupted when she heard a voice speak in her head, "He's here already?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Freya?" she thought before looking around the place, but seeing no traces of the said being made her realize that she was being contacted through mental telepathy. She just nodded slightly. "Yes." But she looked rather regretful as she bowed down her head, eyeing the slow flowing water from the old rusty faucet.

"He's injured, I could tell?" Freya asked her.

"Badly." It was all she could say to describe how he was injured before turning away from the water and just stared at the washcloth on her hands and then noticed that she still had his blood on her arms and legs. She frowned slightly before slouching and leaning back on the wall behind her, but careful not to hit her head on the cupboards.

Sensing her unusual silence, Frey just finally instructed, "You know what to do with him, Sara. I'm counting on you. Make sure that he's alright, and you'll be greatly rewarded. I have already asked some other faithful servants of mine to help rebuild _your_ kingdom to hide the Cursed Prosecutor."

She smiled slightly and flipped her hair, "_My_ kingdom? Hmf…" she looked up. "Don't worry, my Mistress, I will become the greatest actress ever." She said with a dry laugh.

She heard Freya chuckle, "And when the right time comes, you will bring the Cursed Prosecutor to me… and he shall be with our legion. With his strength and strong will, we could use him perfectly to execute our plans. He can be a good distraction to those who dare destroy our plans. Be careful not to reveal to anybody else about our plans, otherwise, I'll make sure everything that is left to you will be gone." She said with a warning tone which made Sara's eyes slightly widen. She stiffened slightly; a lot of images flashing into her mind again. She grunted and clutched her forehead. Freya sensed that there was something wrong with Sara, and she asked, "What is the matter?"

Sara just kept her gaze on her other hand resting on her bloodstained lap as she shook her head, "N…nothing. Just… tired, I guess. He was heavy and I had to carry him from Geffen to this place." She said softly, but she sounded tense.

Freya was quiet for a while before finally saying, "I'm counting on you, Sara," and slowly, Sara felt her Mistress's presence fade away until all she could feel was the cool late afternoon breeze of Payon seeping through closed windows with small holes on them. She slowly put down her hand on her lap, listening to the sound of water that was still continuously flowing into the already full basin.

But she continued to sit still on where she was, unmoving… until she realized that it had gotten dark already and that she had wasted too much water. "Hmf… who cares?" and slowly got off from the counter and wearily gripped the faucet knob to turn it off.

She got the basin and started going back to the masters' quarters where she had left Skurai earlier. "Damn. I've been gone for a long time… what if he died because of loss of blood?" she was thinking quietly as she tried her best to make her way through the dark hallways; and from where she was currently navigating through the dark, she could hear faint laughter. His laughter.

She decided to follow the sound and it eventually led her safely and quickly back to the quarters and back to his side. "What, may I ask, is so funny?" she asked rather sternly.

Skurai stopped laughing, the moonlight from outside the window hitting his face. She shuddered slightly upon realizing that he looked creepy and scary at the same time under the moonlight. Or maybe it was the effect of the gothic make-up? In disgust, she reached for the washcloth that she had placed into the water and wringed it carefully upon it. "Why don't we start by removing all that gunk off your face?" she asked stiffly before she began to wipe his face with the washcloth. He started laughing again.

"What is funny?" she demanded in annoyance. If Freya did not command her to take care of him, she would have just killed him. "Nah… if I kill him, that will help Chaos and hid gang pursue their goal without Skurai being such a big hindrance… and helping Chaos is a big no-no for me. HAH!" she thought silently with overpowering pride, but she was interrupted when he reached for her hand and grabbed her wrist, making her stop. She gasped slightly because of surprise and stared into his creepy eyes. She swallowed hard. "Let me go," she ordered harshly.

He just smiled slyly at her. "Your name is Sara." He pointed out.

She cringed, "Gods, this guy is insane!" she was thinking quietly before saying out loud, "Yes, I know my name, thank you very much…" she trailed off when he let go of her wrist, but he was still smiling at her. "My name is Skurai." He told her.

Her frown deepened before deciding to just continue with her work. "I'm pretty much aware of that. Now stop moving and lie down still. I'm cleaning you up." She told him.

And then he was quiet… but the silence was already getting into her nerves, especially since he seems to be like a creepy creature. Forcing herself to ask something while continuing to clean him up, she stammered, "Uhm…" and stopped before she decided to put the washcloth aside first and then stare at his clothes. "Eyuch… don't tell me I have to take them off?!" she was screaming deep inside, but her facial expression remained emotionless. Slowly and carefully, she began to take off his upper garments. The smell of sweat and blood combined was enough to make her cringe in disgust, but she just swallowed back her nausea, not wanting to throw up in front of him. "Ugh…" she reacted softly. He smiled, knowing that she was disgusted by him. It just made him feel giddy upon the thought that the Valkyrie could easily be affected by such bad odors.

She needed a diversion, so she spoke up the first question that came into her mind, "You have an odd name. How come it's _Skurai_? It reminds me of the word _squirrel_."

And he chuckled at the question, surprising her, but his soft laughter reflected pain within it, so he stopped. "Kinda like the Coco from Mt. Mjolnir, huh?" he asked softly.

She just raised an eyebrow at him. "Well… it's a breed of _squirrel_. But I prefer the Smokie." She told him. Finally, there was something to discuss with him… to divert their attentions from the smell, the pain and the situation.

"Smokies are like Raccoons, right?" he asked.

"Just like a squirrel is to Coco. Right." She muttered glumly before she got up. "I forgot the disinfectant and the first aid kit. Excuse me," she told him before leaving the room.

It took her a few moments before she got back, and when she did, he was just staring into empty space. Seeing him like that made her feel worried because she thought he had died already… and if he dies, she would fail in her mission to bring him to Freya when the right time comes. She slowly knelt down beside him, and that's when he turned his head to the side to look at her again. His sudden movement surprised her and made her heart jump. "Geez! You startled me!" she told him with an irritated but defensive tone.

He gazed up into her eyes, "What about you? Why are you named _Sara_?" he asked softly as she opened the first aid kit. She just shrugged. "I don't know. It was my mother who gave me that way." She replied mindlessly as she got the bottle of disinfectant.

He was silent for a few seconds before telling her, "Did you know that your name means _Princess_?"

            _She did not want to go home yet. She wanted to stay up there in the mountains of __Mt.__Mjolnir__ because she loved the feel of the cool mountain breeze while playing with the basically harmless creatures there. The sun was already beginning to set, but she was still seated under a big tree and petting a sleeping Smokie on her lap while singing a soft song that seemed to summon some more of the cool and gentle breezes to blow her way._

_Her bodyguard just sat still, but kept a meter of distance away from her. He had been awfully silent and it somewhat bothered her because she wanted to know more things about him. She wanted to be his friend, not just someone whom he is going to protect. Smiling softly at the sleeping Smokie on her lap, she said, "It's such a shame that some Knights and other Job Classes who are training themselves in this mountain are killing innocent creatures such as this darling Smokie." _

_Skurai__ slowly turned his attention to the raccoon-like animal that was sleeping on her lap. He somewhat felt guilty that during his Swordsman days, he used to kill some of those animals for training. He just nodded his head at what she told him._

_With that, she proceeded, "They just go about their business quietly around this place. This is their home!" she pointed out._

_Skurai's__ attention got diverted when a Coco approached him and jumped onto his lap, offering him an acorn. He smiled softly before shaking his head in refusal to take the acorn, but he reached his hand to the squirrel-like creature's head and patted it gently. "Did you ever consider taking a Smokie home as your pet, your majesty?" he asked._

_She sighed sadly and shook her head. "My father would not allow it." She replied quite miserably. "That's why I like coming up here to play with them instead." She told him._

_He looked up at the orangey-skies and felt the cool breeze hit his face. He smiled, feeling so relaxed, "Judging from how you play with them, I guess you don't need a taming item anymore to have them come near you." He told her._

_She giggled. "Yeah." She replied, pleased that he was already speaking to her, but her smile faded when she noticed that he got up and dusted himself after letting go of the __Coco__. "Anything wrong, Skurai?" she asked with a worried look on her face._

_He picked up his sword and offered his other hand to her. "But it's time to go home now." He told her._

_She blinked at him, then looked down to his hand._

_He smiled kindly at her, "Don't worry, your majesty. We'll come here tomorrow afternoon again so that we could play with Cocos and Smokies." He said reassuringly._

_She looked up into his eyes again and smiled as she nodded her head._

_"Now let's go, Princess." He told her gently._

_With that, gently shook the Smokie to wake it up. The Smokie immediately woke up and yawned. She giggled when she saw it yawn. It made Skurai smile too. She gently lifted the Smokie off her lap and placed it on the grassy ground. "Oopsy-daisy!" she uttered softly to the Smokie as she settled it on the ground. With that, the Smokie ran off._

_"Let's go, Princess." Skurai said, coming nearer._

_She turned to him and got his hand, letting him help her up in standing up. "Oh please, dear Crusader, stop calling me _Princess_. I would like to be your friend…I'd love for the two of us to treat each other like that. So, why don't you start by calling me by my first name?" she asked gently with a sweet smile on her face._

_He just stared unbelievably at her._

_Her smile widened as she curtsied in front of him, "My name is _Titania_."_

--------------------------------

' TBC


	3. Destined?

**Be Blinded By the Truth**

By: General Quistis

**Chapter Three: Destined?

* * *

**

It was around eleven in the evening of the same day that Sara had saved Skurai from the clutches of the grim reaper when she felt her stomach grumbling. That was when she realized that she hasn't eaten anything for the whole day. "What was I thinking?! I was too busy taking care of this… this filthy man!" she thought silently while cringing upon observing the sleeping Skurai.

As a matter of fact, she had already fallen asleep while guarding him, but since she felt her stomach grumbling, she had awoken again. She had distanced herself from him because of fear that he might get up in the middle of the night while she's still asleep and try to hurt her or something. But she thought twice about it at the moment she had awoken again due to hunger. "Talatsu was the one who controlled his mind… where is Talatsu anyway?" she thought silently before scanning him from head to toe. She sensed easily that he was not even hiding any weapon at all.

"_Did you know that your name means _Princess

His voice was echoing in her head, saying those things to her… and she got up in surprise. She thought she heard him say it out loud… again.

But he was asleep. Irritably, she removed her ponytail so that she could lie down properly and placed the band on the floor beside her mattress before plopping down on it again. She frowned in annoyance. "Why is this in my head?!" she irritably pounded on her own forehead before turning to the other side where she could not see him. She was sleeping on another mattress that she had placed on the floor five meters away from him. "Princess… hmf! I'm not even a Princess… well, in a way, I am… but Iris is the rightful heiress…" she thought miserably. "How could my own father do this to me and to my mother?! Because of him, I'm suffering like this… it's all his fault…" her thoughts were interrupted when she saw another image in her head. She clenched her fists when she realized that it was a king…

* * *

_"Pleasant morning, Titania!" The King greeted his daughter who had just arrived in the dining hall for breakfast._

_The Princess did not even say anything. She looked quite annoyed but she was keeping things to herself. As she sat down, the King proceeded to speak, "You have met the person that you are going to marry?"_

_Changing the subject, she told him, "Skurai and I will be going hunting today. Please do not arrange a tour for your guests around the Kingdom because I won't be able to accompany them."_

_"You are going to tour the kingdom with your fiancé whether you like it or not!" he replied in protest._

_"Fine! But keep him away from me! And I want Skurai to be with me at all times!" she insisted._

_But the King shook his head in disapproval, "Your bodyguard will have to stay here. He cannot come with you."_

_She was surprised by what he had told her. "Wh…what?" she asked in confusion. "But I thought he's my bodyguard! He's supposed to protect me remember?" she demanded with a shaky tone._

_"You have your fiancé and his own guards to protect you, my dear…" the King trailed off when she just got up and walked out of the room.

* * *

_

"Titania…"

She closed her eyes, wanting everything to go away.

"Titania,"

"No! Who is Titania!?" she thought angrily.

The voice was still echoing in her head… and it was Skurai's voice. She kept on denying everything that she is still dreaming, but she instantly opened her eyes when she felt a pair of arms embrace her from behind and drew her closer to their owner. She gasped slightly, but she was not able to move as she shivered slightly. "What the--?!" she thought in protest.

Skurai rested his head on her shoulder, breathing against her ear, "You're here…" he whispered softly.

She cringed. "Please let go of me…" she began with a hard but shaky tone.

"Titania…" he repeated softly.

She frowned and clenched her fists before pounding on his hands that were resting on her stomach, "Who the hell is Titania?!" she demanded angrily before she forcibly pulled away from him and immediately crawled out of the mattress. She scurried away from him with a disgusted look on her face as she headed for one corner of the room. When she looked back, she noticed that he was still lying on her mattress on his side, his gaze blank but was still staring at her… and he had this distorted smile on his face which made her feel so uncomfortable. She was not able to move or do anything else until he repeated the name again.

Her frown deepened as she got up in annoyance and rushed out of the room. How dare he call her that way! She felt so insulted.

She had heard that name before, several times in several instances when she was still a little girl… and she could even see the woman who owned the name in her dreams or sometimes, in her daydreams when she would imagine herself as a Princess during childhood…

But those childhood fantasies faded away when she saw her own father murder her mother… however, at that same instant, she could remember feeling the same pain that she had felt at that moment… but it was not clear to her where she experienced it.

Sara reached the garden and gazed around her. Willows were already grazing the area, and there were also some Lunatics jumping around. A Poring accidentally hit her leg, and she instantly looked down to it in annoyance. The Poring moved away from her before she could even try to punch it and squish it into jelly bits. "Hmf!" she grunted before deciding to levitate to the skies, feeling the cold evening breeze against her whole body. Her hair flowed gently against the wind as she gazed down at the whole of Payon.

It looked like a pile of rubble already, but she still noticed that there were still little houses within the Archer Village that seemed to be filled with people. But since she hated feeling reminiscent about her childhood days because it gave her more bad feelings about herself and her fate, she just decided to leave for a while… at least while it is still nighttime.

* * *

Chaos stared strangely at the skies. He could somewhat sense that something was wrong, but he could not really determine what it is.

"Chaos," Iris said softly, entering his room at the inn in Geffen. She was surprised to see him still wide-awake and seated on the windowsill. "Still awake?" he asked with a calm smile on her face.

"I can't sleep." She admitted before looking around the room. He saw Loki peacefully slumbering on one of the beds. "Can I come in?" she asked softly.

"Sure. He sleeps like a log anyway." He replied with a silly smile on his face. "Hey, I heard that!" Loki muttered, surprising the two of them.

Silence.

"Pretending to be asleep, eh?" Chaos demanded with a frown on his face. But Loki did not answer anymore. Iris just chuckled lightly as she shut the door carefully and ran over to Chaos and sat down beside him. "Hey, careful. You might fall off. This is the third floor." He warned.

She giggled. "It's alright. I'll hold onto you." She told him.

He just smiled at her before looking up at the skies again. Her gaze softened before looking up too. "So you've noticed it too?" she asked.

"Noticed what?" he asked.

"The skies." She said softly.

He narrowed his eyes at the skies. "What about it?" he asked, wanting to be sure if they have the same observation.

"The skies are clear… there are no clouds… but there is neither moon nor stars in sight." She told him. He frowned slightly. "Yeah…" he bowed down his head. "You think it has something to do with the events that happened today?" he asked.

She just shrugged. "Probably… but…" she sighed heavily before leaning against the windowpane. "I'm worried about our situation. What if Skurai is alive? I mean, it's hard to believe that somebody would even save him, you know?" she asked.

"Someone did save him… and they got away." He began.

"And Talatsu?" she asked.

"I'm not even sure if that nasty sword's still with him… but I hope not." He told her.

Iris thought for a while before shrugging, "Well, who knows? Skurai could be such a nice guy after all, but it's Talatsu that has made him act like a psycho." She pointed out.

"Yes, but…" he looked up at the skies again. "It's like something bigger is coming our way… and it still involves that guy…" he told her.

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

His frown deepened before gazing down at the ground. "I don't know… but something's telling me that we should be more cautious." Was all he said before shrugging and turning back to Iris, "And what do you think has become of your sister?" he asked.

Iris was surprised by the question. "Well… actually, I have been thinking a lot about her for quite some time already…" she said softly.

"A penny for your thoughts?" he asked.

She chuckled lightly. "Nah… never mind." She told him.

"Come on. Is it a secret that I shouldn't know?" he asked.

She smiled sadly. "I… I just can't figure out why… why she had to do that… why she killed dad…" she said with a sad tone. Chaos looked up at the skies again. "There is a reason for everything…" he said softly.

"But what is the reason behind that?" she asked softly.

Chaos just shrugged.

* * *

Sara just stood still under a big tree as she watched a Big Foot pass by and rubbing its nose, trying to get rid of a bothersome bee that's been trying to settle on its nose. She wondered if she should kill it; she could probably get some honey from the Big Foot and then sell it for Zeny.

But what does she need the money for anyway?

She was interrupted when she heard a teleporting sound. She slowly turned her head to her left and narrowed her eyes at Muninn and Huginn who were just staring at her. When she felt bored because the two were not even speaking at first, she looked away and bowed down her head.

"What are you doing here?" Muninn asked her.

"I should ask you the same question." Sara replied rather miserably.

Muninn smiled. "You look depressed." She pointed out.

Sara did not reply. She just watched as a Lunatic approached her foot and looked up at her. She frowned. Muninn observed her reaction to the Lunatic and shook her head. "Sara, Sara, Sara…"

Silence.

"You poor child." Muninn continued.

Sara clenched her fists and turned sharply to her, "I'm no child. I'm not a child anymore." She hissed before walking away, not noticing that the Lunatic was following her.

Muninn smiled at the cute sight of the Lunatic following after Sara Irine… and she noticed that when Sara noticed the Lunatic, she still tried to ignore it. Eventually, Sara got impatient and turned around to face the Lunatic, attempting to kill it (and maybe get some item afterwards after doing so), but she just froze.

She stared at it for a few moments, seeing several flashes of the woman that she kept on seeing in her mind lately. This time, the woman was petting a Lunatic while reading a book. She shook her head in disgust and just turned away.

"You've changed, Sara." Muninn told her.

"I don't need to know." Sara muttered.

"Why don't you kill that?" she asked.

Sara just turned to face them again and stomped her foot angrily, driving the Lunatic away. "Can't you just leave me alone?!" she yelled angrily before she turned to run away.

Muninn and Huginn just watched her before turning to the direction where the residence of the Irines are. There was something going on in there. "It's starting," Muninn said simply.

Huginn just nodded.

Sara just kept on running until she stopped by a cliff overlooking another forest leading to Alberta. She just stared at the city lights far from her before she decided to sit down to rest for a while. All the running exhausted her and all she wanted to do was rest because she had been tired and lacking of sleep for the whole day already because she had to take care of some bothersome cursed prosecutor named Skurai. "Hmf… if Freya didn't order it, I wouldn't do it," she thought silently to herself.

All of a sudden, she just heard something rustling from behind her. She instantly got up and there was Muninn again with Huginn… but this time, she was holding a sword.

Sara had never seen such a sword before and she wondered where it came from and what it's called. She narrowed her eyes at the two. "What is it that you want from me? Why don't you just leave me alone?" she asked, clenching her fists.

Muninn approached her and handed her the sword. "Don't think that we don't know anything about Freya's plans about the Cursed Prosecutor. But if you want Skurai to be useful for your Mistress, you'd better give him a sword." She said.

"Skurai doesn't need a new sword. He has Talatsu…" Sara began defensively, but trailed off when she recalled that Talatsu wasn't even with Skurai when she brought him to Payon. "Where is Talatsu anyway?" she thought silently as she carefully took the sword.

"That sword is called the Masamune." Muninn told her while watching her scan the sword's blade carefully with her eyes. Sara gently touched the tip of the blade and swallowed hard. "Masamune?" she asked.

Muninn just smiled at her before signaling for Huginn to go ahead and leave. Huginn disappeared, and she followed, leaving Sara all puzzled. "What if this is a trap?" she thought before deciding to try out the sword.

She ended up going straight to the deepest part of the Payon Forest, searching for Sohees and Big Foots, killing them off with the Masamune. She enjoyed the way it seemed to slice and penetrate through everything… even the toughest trunk of the trees. She laughed in delight, feeling light-headed… and when she got tired, she stopped and just decided to rest. She sat down underneath a tree being illuminated by the moonlight. She was panting hard as she leaned back against the tree, feeling her depression coming back again. "Depression?" she thought silently.

Her heart felt so heavy as she stared at the sword on her hand. There was no blood, even though she could clearly remember slaying those Big Foots before she even had the sword, and it was so bloody she had to clean herself thoroughly. But with that new sword that was supposed to be given to Skurai, there was no blood on the blade or the hilt. She curiously put down the sword and sighed heavily, feeling more tired than usual. "I wonder what he's doing now…" she whispered softly before her eyelids finally gave up on her and she gently closed her eyes, breathing in the cool night air. With that, the Valkyrie fell asleep.

She was not even aware that she had fallen asleep because of fatigue, and when she started to dream, she did not know what to do anymore; whether to stay in the dream or not.

In the dream, she was wearing a white long dress fit for a Princess… and she was holding a flower ring.

"Titania," said a voice from behind her.

She turned around and smiled. "Skurai," and ran towards him. She placed the flower ring on top of his head and giggled. He blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed upon having such a crown of flowers on top of his head.

In that dream, they were in a big flower field… and it seemed so vast and endless. She turned away to look around the whole area… and he embraced her from behind and whispered in her ear…

Sara slowly opened her eyes when she heard birds chirping from above her… she instantly moved away before one of those birds could poop on her head. She frustratingly got up and got the Masamune while gazing around. It was already morning. "Hmf…" she uttered softly in disdain before deciding to go back to the town proper to check on Skurai in the Irine Residence.

Upon arriving in Payon Town, she was surprised to find the whole Town fully restored… and it looked just like before when she was still a little girl. Her mouth slightly dropped open as she gaped in awe at the restored town. "What happened here?" she thought as she ran towards the Payon Castle. She entered the Castle and looked around…

Memories from her childhood flooded her thoughts and she fought the urge to smile bitterly. Those were such happy times…

At present, the ceilings looked a bit lower and the space around her didn't seem so big anymore. Probably because the last time she had gazed on those things inside the Castle was when she was still a little girl… and her father would carry her up on his shoulders so that she could touch the ceiling. "One day you'll be tall too, Sara, my little Princess," she recalled Lord Irine telling her.

She looked up at the ceiling and stared blankly at them. "Bullshit." She cussed before proceeding to the room where she had left Skurai. She had a hard time locating it, but after a while, she realized where it was because she heard something crash.

When she arrived at the room, she was surprised to find him sprawled on the floor and struggling to get up. The basin of water had toppled over and had wet the floor. She instantly let go of the sword and marched towards him with an annoyed look on her face. She helped him up, dragging him back to the bed. "You stupid. You fell off." she snapped at him.

He grudgingly looked up at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked rather harshly. She was surprised at him but she laughed victoriously. "Ahahaha! Finally you've returned to your senses." She told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You were hallucinating last night. You called me names that I don't even know of…" she trailed off when she recalled her dream.

He frowned, but he wasn't even looking at her all this time… and when he did look up at her, his eyes slightly widened as he gazed up into her eyes.

She just pushed him back onto the bed, letting his head hit the soft pillow rather carelessly that he almost bumped against the headboard. She turned away and went back to the door where she had dropped the sword. He stared in awe at her. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Man, he sounds different without Talatsu possessing him…" she was thinking before replying, "Sara." She picked up the sword and turned back to face him. "Do you know your name?" she asked mindlessly, wanting to make sure that he is conscious of what is happening.

"Of course I know my name… I'm Skurai… and you are?" he asked.

"Weren't you paying attention? I told you my name's Sara." She snapped impatiently before putting down the sword on the ground beside the bed.

He just looked away and looked at his hand, then touched his head, raking his fingers through his hair. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in Payon Castle… once home to the Irines… and now it's mine." She told him airily before sitting down on the bed. "I saved you from Chaos and his friends. You were badly injured." She told him with a stiff look on her face.

"I… was?" he asked. He paused for a while as everything started to return to his memory… including the old, old events when _she_ died.

She…

His eyes widened and turned back to her. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Who?" she asked.

He swallowed hard and just clutched his head in despair. "No… she's lost…" he muttered to himself as he clenched his teeth in annoyance.  
She did not know what he was talking about but she just shrugged to herself, thinking "Since Freya wants me to gain control over him…" and she proceeded verbally, "Whoever the hell you're talking about, she can be yours and you'll find her again. I'll even help you…"

He looked at her unbelievably.

She smiled slyly at her, the look in her eyes letting him know that she is giving him a condition. "Only if you stay here with me. I will help you recover…" she picked up the Masamune and handed it to him. "…and this is yours." She told him.

He just stared at her, then at the sword. "What do you need me for?" he asked.

"Call it an act of kindness. Besides, do you really think that people will still accept you after what you have done against them?" she asked slyly.

He just narrowed his eyes at her before he carefully got the sword and examined it. "What is your role in Payon?" he asked.

She thought for a while before replying, "Princess."

_"Princess,"_

_She looked behind her and saw him. She smiled happily and ran to him, embracing him tightly. "Oh Skurai…" she said softly._

_He smiled lovingly at her. "Are you alright?" he asked._

_"Yes. I am. Just a little weary from the traveling this afternoon." She replied._

_"Well then, why don't you rest now?" he asked._

_She shook her head. "No. I want to talk to you about a lot of things." She said._

_"What about?" he asked curiously. She let go of him and went over to her balcony, sitting down on the railing. "Well, you are a Crusader, right?" she asked._

_"Y…yes," he replied as he approached her, feeling nervous about the way she was seated on the railing. She could easily fall if she wasn't careful in maintaining her own balance._

_"Tell me stories about your travels!" she told him happily._

_He smiled gently at her. "Alright, Princess…"_

"Princess?" he repeated, sending her out of her sudden trance at the mention of the noun. She just swallowed hard, acting natural, "Yes." She got up. "And since you're here and I might be having a hard time attending to you and to my duties, you will have to repay my _kindness_ by working as my bodyguard." She told him.

What she had just said struck something into her… and it made her heart skip a beat.

Skurai had the same reaction…

_"From now on you will become Princess Titania's royal bodyguard."_

He gazed into Sara's eyes and then frowned. "I don't think so," he said, turning away. She frowned at him, "And why not?" she asked.

"I have sworn my allegiance to another Princess and I cannot serve you the way I have served her…" he stated flatly, although he could sense that such an excuse wouldn't be valid enough for Sara. This wasn't the first time he encountered her. He himself had known that she is powerful herself… and since he is still weak, it could be possible that she could just do whatever she wants to him and kill him in an instant if she pleases. Sara's frown deepened and her mouth formed a pout that she did not expect. "But she is not here. And you are under my care. And remember, I told you that if you work with me, you can see her again." she told him sternly, but she was thinking silently, "Whoever the hell his princess is. Screw her. She's giving me a hard time convincing this damn guy… if I don't succeed, Freya will get mad at me…"

He stared unbelievably at her. "Why me?" he asked rather helplessly as he sat up straight.

She just gazed blankly at him. "Because Freya said so." And she got up to leave. "Wait a moment, Sara," he called out, making her stop in her tracks, although she did not turn to face him. He realized what he had just said, and out of mockery, he just said, "I mean, _your Majesty_."

She turned around to look at him with coldness in her eyes. "Yes, you monster?" she asked.

Ouch.

Somehow, it really pierced through his heart. He was aware that he had caused death to many individuals, even the innocent ones… but there was nothing he was able to do against it since he was being controlled by Talatsu. And speaking of Talatsu, where did that sword go?

He just regained his composure and frowned at her, "What does Freya want?" he asked.

"Nothing. She just wants me to take care of you because I am a _kind_ person." She said simply with an arrogant air.

"But… why me?" he asked.

She placed the tip of her index finger on her mouth, thinking in a graceful gesture, and then smiled at him again. She answered sarcastically, "Well, we must be destined to meet like this."

He stared unbelievably at her.

She turned away, and the way she did so made him see another person in her… and his eyes widened upon doing so. Her smile faded and her facial expression turned cold once more the moment she was not facing him anymore. "Call it _destiny_." She muttered before she finally got out of the room, living him there to ponder about what had just happened and what he had just heard from her.

He looked down at the Masamune, staring at its blade for a long time before putting it aside. "What about Talatsu? I need that sword… Talatsu will lead me to find her again…" he was thinking silently.


	4. A Few Disputes

Be Blinded By the Truth  
By: General Quistis  
Disclaimer: Ragnarok manwah and Online do not belong to me. They all belong to Myung-Jin Lee.  
Author's Notes: Hey, this is just a fic alright? No hard feelings! I'm pretty sure this won't be in the manwah ever (like duh)... but since I'm one of those very few people who tend to like odd couples like Sara and Skurai... well here you go. I hope you understand. If you don't, then bother somebody else. I don't need to hear from you how absurd and unorthodox these two are. And you'll just be wasting your time telling me off.

* * *

Chapter Four: A Few Disputes

Since Sara was surprised at the reconstruction of the whole town, she just walked out of the castle and headed to the town proper. Everything seemed... alive.  
Just like in her childhood...  
"What is Freya thinking?" she was muttering to herself as she watched children playing in the streets and merchants going about their daily business... also the other residents. "I thought they're all dead?" she thought in awe as she scanned the whole place and all the people that she could see along the way as she continued her way around Payon.  
A few had even stopped to greet her, "Good morning, your majesty! How are you doing today?"  
"Wh...what?" she had replied at first. _Your majesty_?  
"Princess Sara! How's your father?" one of the residents asked her.  
She was surprised by the question. "Wh...what are you talking about?" she had managed to ask in confusion. "What is Freya thinking!" she thought again. How come all the dead had come back to life... and Payon, which, supposedly had been destroyed and in irreplaceable ruins, had been reconstructed and had come back to life? Sure she could remember the plan that Payon is to be restored, but she never really thought that when Freya said _restored_, it would mean that the dead should also be there...  
"Then... if so..." she stopped her thoughts and she frowned. "Mother..." she whispered hoarsely. She rushed towards the place where her mother's house once stood... the place where she witnessed the terrible murder of her own mother several years ago when she was still a little girl. "If so... Mother could be alive..." she thought with a hopeful look in her eyes. Her heart pounded in joy as she continued to run, but her facial expression remained aloof, puzzling all the citizens that saw her pass by as she made her way to her mother's house...  
She stopped by the door of the house, panting hard and trying to catch her breath. She fought the urge to smile. What if it was all a lie?  
A dream?  
She opened the door and yelled, "Mother!"  
Silence.  
A woman resembling her younger half-sister Iris sat by a table and doing some embroidery. The woman just stared unbelievably at her. "Hello Sara," she greeted softly, her eyes wide upon seeing her.  
Sara just gaped at her.  
It was Iris's mother.  
The woman smiled sadly at her, "Have you seen my daughter?" she asked softly.  
Sara just bit her lower lip in disdain as she swallowed hard and stepped backward, completely stepping out of the house and slamming the door shut. She couldn't find the words to say anything, but she was so confused... "What is going on? What is she doing in my mother's house?" she thought to herself, feeling more confused than before. She began to hyperventilate; she wanted to go back to Freya and ask her questions regarding her current situation... and what has it got to do with Skurai. Mindlessly, she just ran and ran until she reached the forest going to Alberta, and at some instant, she just kept on yelling, "Mama! Mama! Mama where are you?"  
And then everything turned black...

* * *

oOoOo 

"Sara," said a gentle but stern voice.  
Sara Irine opened her eyes when she recognized the voice. It was Freya speaking to her... but she couldn't see well... it's like she's in a dream. She couldn't even move, but she knew that she was lying on a bed in a very big room. "M...mistress..." she struggled to say.  
She felt someone touch her face. "Hush my dear." Freya told her.  
Sara just swallowed hard and she closed her eyes. "I... I am here?" she asked.  
Freya did not answer. Sara opened her eyes once more and she saw a lady smiling at her, although she couldn't see clearly. "Wh...why?" she asked.  
The Goddess just smiled further, "Because it's what your heart desires. Therefore, I'm giving it to you." and she waved a hand over Sara's eyes. "Now close your eyes so you may not be blind..."  
Sara's eyelids felt so heavy and soon, she found them closing on their own. She eased up a bit.  
"There is something that you must know..." she heard the Goddess say...

* * *

oOoOo 

"Sara,"  
_There is something that you must know...  
_"Sara," repeated an awfully familiar voice. She slowly opened her eyes and the first face she saw was her mother's. She gasped in shock as she instantly sat up, gaping at her mother. "M...mama?" she had managed to say.  
Lady Irine stared curiously at her. "Yes?" she asked.  
Sara shifted her gaze to the man standing behind her. It was Lord Irine, her father. He had a very worried look on his face. "You gave us quite a fright, my dear." he told her.  
Sara just stared unbelievably at them as she felt shivers run down her spine. She clutched the blanket tightly against herself and moved away from them.  
"Careful dear, you might fall off the bed," Lady Irine said with concern as she touched her daughter's hand. Sara shivered at the touch. "M...Mama?" she asked, looking at her mother with teary eyes. She couldn't help but cry.  
Lord Irine went to the other side of the bed and guided Sara away from the edge of the bed so that she wouldn't fall, "Sara, what has happened to you?" he asked.  
Sara turned to her father with a confused look in her eyes, trying her best not to weep. She was filled with mixed emotions of joy, sadness, pain and anger.  
"You told us you'd go around town, but then you just ran into the forest!" Lord Irine told her.  
"Yes, dear. Some good citizens confirmed that they saw you and you looked ill. They reported you to us and so your father set out to the forest with some of our guards and they found you by the forest near Alberta." her mother explained.  
Sara just blinked.  
"Are you feeling alright, dear?" Lord Irine asked.  
Childhood memories began to flood Sara's thoughts... memories of her loving mother and then her father that had murdered her... She just nodded and smiled, bursting into tears, embracing her mother and her father at the same time. She felt so happy. "This is not a dream... this is real!" she was thinking.  
Lord Irine and her mother exchanged confused glances with one another regarding how their daughter was acting. "You're alive... Mama? Papa?" she asked curiously.  
"What? Sara, what kind of question is that?" Lord Irine asked in confusion.  
Lady Irine just embraced her daughter tightly. "Sara dearest... you must've hit your head hard on the ground when you fell! Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.  
Sara nodded. "Yes, I'm alright..." she said softly. But then again, what if she's just dreaming?  
"Next time, we won't allow you to leave the Castle without your bodyguard." Lord Irine told her.  
Sara let go of them and stared unbelievably at him. "Wh...what?" she asked.  
"Too bad he's sick so he couldn't go with you today. But next time, we won't allow you to leave without anyone with you!" he told her sternly.  
"But I..." Sara began, but Lord Irine hushed her, "Dear, your mother and I know that you can defend yourself... but the world is very dangerous and we only want the best for our Princess!" he told her gently with a reassuring smile.  
Sara just stared at him and it took a while before she had managed to speak up again, "Bodyguard?" she asked.  
"He's in the next room." her mother told her.

* * *

oOoOo 

Around sunset, when she knew she had enough strength and courage to go to the other room to look, she tiptoed her way to the other room. She could remember placing Skurai in the Masters' bedroom; does that mean that they transferred him to a new one beside her own room?  
She opened the door and looked inside.  
Skurai turned around from looking outside the window, looking at her. He just frowned at her. "Sara?" he asked, wanting to make sure.  
She frowned at him as she stepped inside and shut the door. His eyes looked at her from head to toe in amazement, and she wondered why. "What are you looking at..." she trailed off when she passed by a full-length mirror and saw that she's wearing a long white dress... and in one of her dreams about that woman named Titania, the same woman was also wearing the same dress. She stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Her hair wasn't tied up in a ponytail anymore; instead, it hung loosely over her shoulders and down past her buttocks. Her own long and wavy locks amused her for a reason that she couldn't understand. How long had she been tying it up in a ponytail anyway and she failed to realize that her hair had grown _that_ long already?  
"Why the hell am I dressed like this?" she demanded out loud in annoyance. She felt a bit disgusted.  
"I should ask you the same question," Skurai pointed out in awe.  
The two fell silent as they stared at one another in confusion. "I remember you killing your father." he told her.  
"Well _you_ were also in the scene of the crime, Skurai. So basically, _we_ killed him." she corrected with a stiff look on her face.  
"But... he's here?" he asked.  
Sara clutched her head in confusion. "And Payon has been restored." she stated flatly.  
"Is this a joke?" Skurai asked.  
"I don't know... it's all a part of Freya's plans and..." she stopped herself from going further. He narrowed his eyes on her as he approached with a threatening gaze. She just stood still and stared warningly at him, clenching her fists as he came closer and then stopped and grabbed her chin, holding it up until she was looking into his eyes in annoyance. "Unhand me," she sneered.  
"Alright, woman, what are you planning to do to me?" he asked her.  
"You can consider me as the key to what you're searching for so you'd better start treating me with respect because if you anger the Goddess, she might change her mind and let you die." she told him.  
He just clenched his teeth as he eyed her scornfully before letting her go. He drew his sword, the Masamune, and pointed its tip towards her neck, but he did not say anything. Sara just stared blankly at him. And then she smiled slyly at him... and she just drew her sword, letting it clash against his. She was in a fighting stance, staring warningly at him.  
He was quiet for a few moments before shrugging. "Fine." and turned away, but he stopped when he felt the blade of her sword gently rest upon his shoulder. He just narrowed his eyes and stood still, staring blankly straight ahead. "So you want to play, huh?" he asked before turning swiftly around once more, his sword clashing against hers. He attempted to make her sword fly out of her grasp, but she had a very strong grip. She just stared blankly at him while he was smiling rather sadistically at her.  
And they had a duel.  
Skurai realized how good she was with the sword, and she was thinking that he isn't really _that_ weak anymore and he had recovered much of his strength. "I could possibly have fun using this man to fully train myself and make myself more useful as a warrior for Freya." she thought silently but still keeping a poker-faced expression.  
Skurai was laughing in delight, taking pleasure in having a swordfight with her. "Ahahahahaha! You're good at this, aren't you?" he asked with an excited tone in his voice, amazed at how Sara was able to avoid or block even his very unpredictable attacks and unexpected attacks. Then they stopped when they sensed someone approaching the room from outside. They exchanged looks with one another; Skurai licking his lower lip indicating to her of his desire to fight with her again. She just made a face at him, as if telling him that even if they have another swordfight, he would never win against her.  
With that, they parted ways. Sara went over to the window and placed her sword by the windowpane and pretended to be interested in gazing outside at the already-darkening skies, while Skurai went back to his bed, hid the Masamune under it and lied down.  
The door slowly opened and Lady Irine stepped inside with a worried look on her face, "Skurai, have you seen..." she trailed off when she realized that her daughter is just standing by the window. She sighed in relief as she approached her daughter, "Oh Sara, there you are! I thought you were in your room but when I went there to call you for dinner, the bed was empty! I got so worried," she explained.  
Sara could see Skurai sneering at her from her peripheral vision, so she clenched her fist visible to him to serve as a warning as she spoke to her mother, "I feel better now, Mama, so I went here to his room to check on him... and we had a little talk," she explained.  
Lady Irine turned to look at Skurai. He just smiled fakely at her. She blinked before turning to her daughter with a disturbed look on her face and whispered, "I don't know why your father chose him to become your bodyguard, but that black eyeliner and the black lipstick just doesn't seem to work pretty well here in Payon. He _scares_ the citizens whenever he's walking around even when he's with you!"  
Sara laughed, her blue eyes dancing in delight at what her mother had just said. Her laughter sounded somewhat heavenly but sinister, the kind of laughter that had made Skurai think that she's faking it. He just stared at her, observing the loving way she smiled at her mother as she said, "Don't worry, mama. As long as he's doing his job well, it's alright."  
The way she smiled at her mother brought back some memories in his thoughts... and his facial expression softened a little and he somewhat fell into a solemn trance as he gazed further into her eyes...

_He turned to the Princess. She looked up at him and smiled lovingly at him. "The stars are lovely tonight, don't you think?" she asked softly. _

"Skurai," Sara said stiffly, making him snap out of his trance and jerk slightly in the process. She was already standing by the side of his bed and staring down coldly at him with a stoic expression on her face. He blinked in awe and looked outside the window. The sun had completely set already. How long had he been "out"?  
He looked up at her again. She still maintained her cold exterior even as she said, "Dinner."

oOoOo

As they were walking down the hallway going to the dining hall, he was looking at her with a curious look on his face. "Don't you ever smile at everyone else except for your own mother?" he asked with a mocking tone.  
She just ignored the question.  
He examined her from head to toe, and since he's taller than her, he could _perfectly_ observe her from above... not to mention, observing the top of her head... and then looking down at her cleavage.  
Sara sensed this so she sped up a little until she went ahead of him. Her face looked flushed and she had a stiff but disgusted look on her face. "Will you stop staring at me!" she snapped.  
He laughed at her, "I'm _not_ staring at you!" he told her.  
"Liar, liar, pants on fire..." she muttered.  
They made it to the dining hall and saw that Lord Irine and Lady Irine were already there. Sara took her seat and watched in disgust as Skurai walked over to his post by the window. He seems to know his duties as a bodyguard to a Princess like her and she wondered how. "Isn't he going to join us for dinner?" Lady Irine asked, referring to Skurai.  
Sara and Lord Irine turned to Skurai. The latter smiled at him, "Care to join us, boy?" he asked kindly.  
"Thank you, kind sir, but I'm still on-duty. I shall have my dinner later on." Skurai responded, but he sounded like he was mocking. Sara just kept still and looked away.  
"No, I insist, young man." Lord Irine told him.  
Skurai looked at Sara before deciding to sit with the family as requested by Lord Irine.

oOoOo

Lord Irine and Lady Irine shared most of the conversation while Sara and Skurai spent the whole dinner time just staring warningly at one another while eating.  
After dinner, Sara went straight to the gardens, ditching Skurai. When she arrived there, she sighed in relief. "Privacy at last..." she thought to herself. She wanted to go back to Freya but for some reason, she could not... like all possible portals where a Valkyrie like her could pass from the human world to the world of the gods had been blocked... or maybe it's just in her case.  
Frustrated, she just decided to stroll within the area, looking up at the starry skies and wondering what really happened. "What does Freya want? Did she really plan for this to happen?" she thought silently.  
Of course, everything should be perfect as what Freya wants, and she really did not want to ask more questions, so she just decided to go with the flow. After all, what's the harm in doing so? If Freya says so, it shall be put into action. No questions asked.  
Sighing, she leaned against the trunk of a big tree and observed as a small Lunatic approached her. She could remember that it was the same Lunatic that had followed her the other night when Muninn gave her the Masamune. "How did you get in here?" she asked out loud as she bent down to pick it up, assuming that no one else was watching her because she doesn't like it when other people see her showing compassion for another living creature such as an animal. She cradled it in her arms gently. "You're so adorable..." she stated flatly, although she remained poker-faced.  
"You know, what you had just said could be much more convincing if you smiled." she heard someone say from above her... Her eyes widened and the Lunatic jumped off from her grasp as she looked up. There was Skurai seated on one of the stable branches of the tree. She frowned at him. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.  
"Just doing my job, Princess," he said mockingly before motioning for her to climb up the tree and sit beside him. "Care to join me here?" he asked.  
"In this dress? No way." she told him before looking straight ahead again, feeling so disgusted. Why is she wearing that _horrible_ dress all of a sudden anyway?  
Maybe because Princesses are required to dress up that way...  
She snorted. "Well then tomorrow, I'm back to my old outfit. This is so unbecoming of me... unless Freya designed the events and it requires me to dress up like this...?" she thought silently to herself.  
"So, Princess, I'm really looking forward to another duel with you." he told her coolly.  
"Well I'm not in the mood tonight. And stop calling me _Princess_; it sickens me because it's obvious that you're just mocking me everytime you call me that." she sneered.  
He just laughed at her. "But if your mommy and daddy heard me calling you _Sara_, they might get mad at me and punish me for being disrespectful." he told her.  
She just kept quiet. "Please leave me alone," she thought miserably. She felt so tired already but she had nowhere else to go.  
"You're boring me. Can't you speak?" he told her frankly with an annoyed tone. She just kept quiet and walked away from him, deciding to just go back inside the Castle.  
He just smiled slyly as he watched her. "Tsk, tsk, tsk... can't express your anger well, huh?" he called out, but she just ignored his remark.  
He was about to follow her but he froze when he heard someone calling his name,  
_Skurai_...  
His eyes widened in awe. The voice was so familiar. He looked around with a skeptical look on his face, "Talatsu?"  
_Find me, Skurai...  
_"But..." he trailed off when he felt his head ache. "Ah..." he winced in pain as he clutched his forehead. "Shit..." he cursed.  
_Find me, Skurai, before they do...  
_He did not move. He just sat there, weighing the consequences of what Talatsu is telling him to do.  
_Ahahaha... what poison has entered your brain because of that woman, huh? They are just using you. I am the one who can truly help you; not Freya and definitely not Sara Irine. Now get out of there and do as I tell you.  
_Skurai frowned slightly, thinking twice... and he jumped down from the tree.

* * *

oOoOo 

Loki looked up and then scanned the starry sky. His frown deepened as he got up from the rock where he was seated.  
"Anything wrong?" Fenris asked him, sensing that he is able to feel that something is not right.  
Chaos looked up from the bonfire that he had just created and scanned the looks on Fenris and Loki's faces. They just got out of Geffen and now they were traveling again, but they ended up getting lost for a while before they could reach the next city or town, and since nighttime closed in quicker than they could even imagine, they were just forced to camp out there.  
A cool breeze began to blow and Iris shivered. Sessy could feel her fur standing to its ends. "Meowrrr... it's too cold all of a sudden!" she remarked as she jumped onto Lydia's arms, wanting to be hugged. Lydia just looked around, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "Eh... guys, I think we should leave this place, I don't feel so good about this..." she stated flatly.  
Loki turned around and stared straight ahead. Fenris followed his gaze and thought, "It's there..."  
And they both ran towards it.  
"Hey! Where are you going!" Iris cried out in surprise as she instantly got up. Chaos got up in a hurry and followed after Loki and Fenris. "I think they sensed it too!" he told Iris and Lydia.  
"What! What did they sense?" Lydia asked in confusion as she got up, letting go of Sessy.  
"C'mon let's go follow them!" Iris told her as she ran...

* * *

oOoOo 

Sara opened her eyes, disturbed from her sleep, when she heard two crows making noises outside her bedroom window. She knew it was already late at night, but she still struggled to get up, wanting to shoo the birds away. She walked over to the window and opened it, but the two crows flew inside her room and landed on her floor... and transformed.  
She frowned in annoyance. "Muninn and Huginn." she muttered.  
Muninn smiled gently at her, "Pleasant evening, child." she greeted.  
Sara just stared blankly at them with a sleepy look on her face as Muninn scanned her from head to toe, "You look very lovely in that silk dress. It's so fit for a Princess like you," she pointed out.  
"What do you want?" Sara demanded impatiently.  
Muninn looked towards the door, "Looks like you failed to say goodnight to your bodyguard tonight, huh?" she asked.  
By saying that, Sara sensed that something was already wrong... and she instantly ran outside, leaving the two beholders there and going straight to Skurai's bedroom. When she entered, there was no one there. She decided to go downstairs to the gardens where she last saw him for the night, but he was nowhere to be found there. Worried that he might have escaped (and this could ruin Freya's plans, whatever they are), she decided to go back to her room, grabbed her Sword of Retribution, and then went outside the Castle without anyone seeing her. She made her way out of the city and straight into the forest. She stopped in her tracks when Muninn and Huginn appeared before her. "Where are you going, Princess Sara? It's late at night!" Muninn told her rather teasingly.  
Sara just clenched her fists. "Take me to Skurai." she said in a voice that sounded like an angry hiss. She was beginning to get impatient.  
With that, the two transformed into crows and flew off. Sara followed where they went...

* * *

oOoOo

Fenris caught up with Loki. "Who is it?" she asked.  
He did not answer. He just continued to run and to stare straight ahead.  
And they stopped when they heard hacking noises and familiar-sounding forest monsters wailing...  
"It's that fiend." Loki told her with a low tone.  
Fenris was right all along... it was Skurai.  
They slowly proceeded and finally, the Cursed Prosecutor came into view. Fenris was in awe to see that he was perfectly alive... and he seemed stronger too.  
Chaos, Iris and Lydia caught up with the two. "What is _that_ doing here, still alive!" Chaos demanded in annoyance.  
"Shhh!" Fenris hushed him.  
Skurai stopped, licking his lips as he turned his gaze to the direction where he sensed some familiar auras. He was holding Talatsu and the sword was clearly twitching, pointing towards the direction where Chaos and the rest are located.  
_"Over there, Skurai... they're there..._" Talatsu was telling him.  
Skurai was about to obey, but he stopped when he heard someone shout his name from behind him. "Skurai!" his eyes widened upon hearing the voice. He slowly turned around, "Titania?"  
"_No! You must obey me!_" Talatsu snapped at him. Skurai froze and turned back to the direction where Chaos were.  
"Titania?" Iris asked curiously with a whispery tone.  
Lydia blinked, seeing the person who just arrived; the one who called Skurai's name as if to stop him. "Isn't that the Valkyrie?" she asked in awe.  
Chaos narrowed his eyes at Sara who had just arrived. He raised his eyebrow at her, "Why is she here?" he thought.  
"Why is she wearing _that_?" Iris asked in awe, seeing that her half-sister was wearing other clothes besides her own... and it was a long flowing silk dress fit for a Princess. She could recall herself also having one of those when she was still in Payon, but now she knows that the dress could've been destroyed along with the city too.  
Sara frowned when she saw the dreaded sword in Skurai's grasp. "What are you doing with that sword?" she demanded.  
Skurai turned to her when Talatsu moved by itself, shaking slightly to her direction.  
"_Since she's nearer, maybe she could make an interesting kill for now..._" the sword told him.  
Skurai just stood still, looking at her from head to toe... and his facial expression softened a little upon remembering someone of the same height and the same features, except that Sara had darker skin...  
Impatiently, she approached him and attempted to grab the sword away from him, but he resisted. "NO! You can't have Talatsu..." he snapped at her, his demented look returning to his face.  
She clenched her teeth. "Skurai, I'm losing my patience with you!" she snapped angrily.  
Talatsu seemed to have a mind of its own and it just swung itself towards Sara. Luckily for her, she was able to immediately dodge the swinging attack, but it cut her slightly on her left wrist. She winced in pain.  
Talatsu rejoiced. "_I wasn't mistaken when I thought that her blood is wonderful..._" he told Skurai. "_...now, Skurai, I want you to kill her for me... make me penetrate through her... I cannot simply resist someone with that kind of blood_." he instructed.  
Skurai just smiled at Sara, watching her struggle to stop the bleeding on her wrist. "You just increased Talatsu's appetite, Princess." he told her with a sleek tone that sent shivers down her spine.  
Chaos frowned slightly. "Is he on her side?" he asked.  
"If he is, how come he wants to kill her?" Fenris told him.  
Iris watched in awe as Sara tried to defend herself from Skurai. She continued to block his attacks with her own sword, but she was beginning to get distracted because of her wound. "Damn... stop this insolence of yours, Skurai!" Sara told him angrily, still exerting much effort in trying to keep Talatsu from touching any part of her body and let it cut her. She would never lose to that horrible sword whose existence seem to depend on just feeding on the blood of people it would be able to kill while using its wielder to get what it wants. Unfortunately, Skurai was the one with a weakness that Talatsu was able to control for its own sick purpose.  
"Accursed sword... what do you want from him?" Sara was thinking angrily while keeping her eye on Talatsu. Talatsu seemed to be laughing at her and she hated it. The attacks became quicker and she was losing her concentration.  
"Is she losing?" Lydia asked curiously.  
"She's losing too much blood... if this continues, she'll really get it." Loki murmured.  
Iris began to feel nervous. She recalled her father's words, telling her, "_You must never hate your sister no matter what happens_..."  
And to her friends' surprise, she jumped out of the bushes, and with her Rune cards she chanted an incantation in her head and threw the cards at Talatsu, as if trying to disable his curse on Skurai.  
The sword began to go berserk.  
"Iris what are you doing?" Chaos demanded as he jumped out of the bush, following her.  
Iris just stood still, watching Talatsu struggle for control on Skurai. They thought they heard it scream angrily at her, words so hurtful that she wouldn't even want to remember anymore. Sara clenched her fists. "What are you doing here?" she demanded from Iris.  
Iris tried to smile nicely at her older sister, but the way Sara looked at her made her take a step backward, as if suddenly regretful of helping her... but something deep inside her made her feel a bit proud because she helped her sister. "S...Sara, I..." she began.  
Skurai wailed in agony. There was this unexplainable and excruciating pain in his head that he couldn't control. He was still holding onto Talatsu... and he began go berserk, eyeing Sara with so much wrath in his eyes.  
Sara clutched her sword even more tightly as she charged at him. "Let go of that goddamn thing!" she snarled angrily as she wielded her Sword of Retribution against Talatsu, and her force was too strong that she was able to make him let go of it. Talatsu flew off from his grasp, landing somewhere far away from him.  
Skurai stopped screaming and he just collapsed on the ground without warning. Chaos and the others just stared in awe at him, wondering what had just happened to him, but before one of them could do anything else, Sara rushed over to him, knelt down beside him and touched his neck, trying to feel for a pulse. She frowned slightly. "Good. He's still alive..." she thought to herself before glaring at Iris.  
Iris just smiled kindly at her, "A...Are you alright, Sara?" she asked weakly as she slowly approached her sister with caution. "You're bleeding... can I help--?" she trailed off when Sara sneered at her, "Stay back! I don't want any of you coming near me, do you understand?" she retorted harshly.  
"Whoa, hold on a minute, what are you doing with Skurai anyway?" Chaos asked her rather stubbornly.  
"It's none of your business." Sara told him nonchalantly as she struggled to drag Skurai with her and then teleported with him, leaving the others behind.  
"That's... strange..." Lydia stated in awe.  
Iris bowed down her head, feeling so disappointed at herself.  
"So they're already working together..." Fenris began.  
"I don't think so." Loki told them. All eyes turned to him before he proceeded, "Sara seems to be protecting him... and he seems to be retaliating with Talatsu controlling his mind. But without Talatsu, he seems... harmless?" he was not sure.  
Iris swallowed hard. "Where do you think she went with him?" she asked.  
"And why the hell is she wearing such a pretty dress? Where did she get that anyway?" Lydia asked in curiosity.  
Iris thought for a while before shrugging. "I once had one of those in Payon... but I guess it's destroyed now." she said softly. She looked so disappointed. Fenris patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about your sister, Iris. I'm sure she'll be alright." she assured.  
Chaos looked around, scanning their surroundings. "Where do you think did the sword land?" he asked.  
"Don't tell me you want to go looking for such a horrible sword?" Lydia demanded in disbelief.  
"Well... we could find some use for it... Heh heh..." Chaos said with a weak smile on his face.  
"I don't think it's such a good idea..." Fenris told him.  
"I want to know where Sara is... maybe Talatsu knows it." Iris declared before turning to Chaos. "C'mon, let's go look for it!" she said cheerfully before leading the way. Chaos followed after her, "Y'know, I think Fenris is right..." he began, but she was persistent.

* * *

oOoOo 

Skurai was dreaming.  
In the dream, he was injured because he just arrived from battle, and Titania was treating his wounds.  
It was a very lovely dream for him because he's able to see her again. If only he could just remain asleep forever and dream about her... so that he could finally be with her even if it's only in his dreams. However, she seems to be more distant to him whenever he's trying to touch her in his dreams. He would ask why, but she would just smile at him and would not even say anything else about the situation.  
When he insisted, she opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She just let him lie down on his bed, and then sat down on the floor by the bed. She smiled one last time before resting her head on the bed and fell asleep. He was about to touch her...  
But he woke up.  
The dream was over.  
Skurai had opened his eyes and he was gazing at the dark ceiling above him. He turned to the window and saw that it was still nighttime, but he was not sure what time it was... probably three in the morning due to the silence he would usually notice at that time of dawn.  
Turning to his side, on the place where Titania was in his dream, he was surprised to find Sara in the same position as Titania's. She was asleep just like Titania in his dream. He thought of touching her, thinking that she might also disappear if he did so... but when he did, she just remained there.  
He could recall what had happened earlier and he felt annoyed at her for disrupting Talatsu's plans. "If she didn't interfere, Titania could've been here again..." he was thinking as he forcefully grabbed her left wrist, shaking her violently to wake her up. "Hey, you bitch. Wake up!" he snarled at her.  
She moved a little, but she seemed weak. She raised her tired gaze at him. "Hmm?" she moaned slightly as he released her. She struggled to sit up straight, but she just fell back on the ground. Skurai raised an eyebrow before getting up... and then he noticed his hand which he used to hold her... his palm was bloody. He felt stunned.  
He went over to her side and saw her left wrist. It had a thin strip of bandage wrapped around it but it was still bleeding uncontrollably. "Damn!" he cursed impatiently before he got her; carrying her back to her own bedroom. He roughly dropped her on her soft bed. She seemed lifeless.  
She opened her eyes once more and looked up at him with a weariness. "S...Skurai..." she said softly with a trembling tone, reaching out a hand to him.  
The way she spoke and the way she reached out a hand to him...

_"Are you alright, Princess?" Skurai asked softly.  
Titania smiled wearily at him and reached out a trembling hand to him. He took her hand in his..._

The same memory seemed to take control of Sara and she wondered what she was doing when she just saw herself reach out a hand to Skurai... and he took it.  
He squeezed it gently and even kissed it, "Princess..." he said softly.  
She just smiled sadly at him.

_..."There is something you must know_..."

She could still recall Freya's words to her... and she closed her eyes. Tears streamed down her face. "Am I _her_?" she asked softly.  
Skurai was surprised when he heard this. He just swallowed hard and let go of her, wanting to think things through.  
He got up and went off for a while to search for a first aid kit.  
Sara lingered for a moment, saying a soft prayer to Freya, "...You are the Goddess of Love and Beauty... and you aim for perfection in everything. You said that there is something I must know. Is this the truth?"  
Skurai came back with a first aid kit and she just closed her eyes as he treated her wound. She was surprised by his sudden kindness towards her, but she could recall the way he looked at her as when he came back.  
His eyes were cold and emotionless... as if he was just helping her because it was an obligation; since he's her "servant" now... so that he could see his _Princess_ again.

oOoOo

To be continued...


	5. A City of Memories and Dead People

Be Blinded by the Truth

By generalquistis

Chapter Five: A City of Memories and Dead People

When Sara woke up around noontime, she realized that she was back in her room. Initially, she wondered what she was doing there while she could clearly remember that she was in Skurai's room and had fallen asleep while sitting on the floor and resting her head on his bed since it was her idea to guard him while he was unconscious and injured especially since he just suffered from another grueling mind-control episode with Talatsu.

As she stared up at the ceiling with a dazed look on her face, she finally recalled slowly the other events that happened the other night from where she fainted because of loss of blood and up to the time when she was lingering before losing consciousness. Slowly, she lifted her injured wrist close to her face, staring at the bandages wrapped securely around it. Her blood had stained the area where the wound was, and she cringed at the sight of it. She never really liked seeing her own blood.

Conditioning herself to get up to go and see where Skurai was (she just wanted to make sure he does not run away and look for Talatsu), she used her uninjured hand to lever herself up so she could sit down. She still felt weak but she knew she had to do her duties for Freya. And she still has a lot of researching to do about Titania. "Whoever she is." Sara thought with a disgusted look on her face as she forced herself to get out of bed, but she froze when she heard someone enter through the door. She turned her gaze to the door and she stiffened when she saw her father. She was not really used to seeing her father showing concern to her especially since she could recall that the last time she has ever seen him with a kind look on his face was when she was just a little girl… before he killed her mother. Shaking those thoughts off, she frowned at him, not wanting to discuss about what happened to her last night because she knew he was looking at her injured wrist. Besides, she knows that her father would hate it if something bad happened to her… especially since he never really looked like the type of person to trust Skurai.

"Skurai told me what happened last night." Lord Irine told her as he approached.

She just looked away.

"I told you not to train yourself at night when it's very dark. Now look what you've done. You injured yourself." He told her gently as he reached out for her injured hand and examined her wrist.

Sara was surprised at what he said.

They were interrupted when the door just burst open again and there was Skurai standing by the doorway, looking at them with a cold look on his face.

Lord Irine took a glance at him and then turned back to his daughter.

Skurai saw the scornful look on Sara's face and it made him smile mockingly at her. "I'm sorry if I disturbed your little father-and-daughter moment. But I sensed that _Princess_ Sara is awake and I thought of resuming my job in guarding her while she's recuperating from her injury and make sure that she doesn't wander off somewhere and injure herself again." he said with a hint of sarcasm that Lord Irine had not noticed.

Lord Irine smiled bitterly at Sara and patted her head gently. "Just lie down and rest, my dear. You need it. I'll just ask the servants to bring in some food for you here so you can have your lunch. I'm sure you're hungry." He told her gently.

"I'm not hungry." Sara said while her jaws were clenched in annoyance. She put her feet back on the bed and just sat still, looking away.

"You have to eat to regain your strength and energy, Sara." Her father insisted before letting go of her and turned to Skurai. "Skurai, I trust you to make sure she eats well. If she doesn't, spoon-feed her." He instructed.

Sara turned back to her father with a mortified look on her face. "Dad!" she cried out in protest.

Skurai's smile widened. "Yessir!" he said, saluting before approaching Sara as Lord Irine left the room. As soon as the door closed, he sneered at Sara, "You hear that? I just saved your ass, bitch." He told her.

She stared glumly at him. "You're the biggest asshole I've ever met." She muttered before looking away.

"I deserve a thank-you for not telling the truth to your father." He told her as he plopped down on her bed.

"Get off my bed." She ordered sternly through clenched teeth.

"No. It's too comfortable." He responded, meaning to annoy her.

She tried pushing him off but he was too heavy for her and she still has not regained enough strength to do so. She gave up and just leaned back on her pillows exasperatingly. "If my father sees you lying down on my bed, he is going to get suspicious." She told him.

"So let him get suspicious. I don't mind punishment." Skurai said, shrugging while staring up at the ceiling.

She just looked at him and then sighed heavily. "Very well." She looked away and crossed her arms, feeling helpless in her current situation… and there are several issues bothering her at that moment.

Especially that of Titania… whoever she is.

Gathering enough guts to talk about it, she began, "Skurai,"

The way she mentioned his name made it seem to him like it rung a bell from somewhere in his memory. He was not able to respond quickly to her calling.

"Hey," she insisted on getting his attention.

He blinked, forcing himself back to reality. "…What is it, Princess?" he asked with a mocking tone.

She swallowed hard, making sure not to look at him. "Who is Titania?" she asked with a hard tone.

The name made his heart skip a beat and he felt stunned for a few moments before he snapped back to his senses when he heard her say, "I think you failed to hear me. Do you want me to repeat the question?" she asked.

He frowned but he could not look at her. "Why do you wish to know?" he asked.

She lowered her gaze to the floor. "You called me by that name several times already. And I dream of her too. And… I see her… in my mind." She explained rather hesitantly.

Skurai was quiet for a while, thinking about what she had just said. "You're making it up." He decided coldly.

"I am _not_ making it up." She insisted with a hard tone.

"Well then somebody told you about her!" he snapped as he sat up and turned his gaze to her sharply. "Who told you, Sara? Huh?" he demanded with a whispery tone.

She swallowed hard, still not even bothering to look at him. "Nobody told me." She responded.

He crawled onto her and grabbed her jaw with his hand and turning her head so that she could face him properly. She was surprised at this sudden action of his. He looked threateningly at her, "You're lying." He decided.

She remained poker-faced as she stared into his eyes. "Fine. If you don't believe me, I won't force you to do so. Now could you please let me go?" she asked calmly.

His frown deepened as he stared into her blue eyes. She seemed to be serious, but then again, he could not really trust her, right? "She works for Freya. Why should I trust her?" he was thinking to himself before he let her go and just sat down on the bed beside her.

She felt uncomfortable having him beside her so she crossed her arms and just bowed down her head and turned her gaze away from him.

Skurai sat still for a while and then took a deep breath, "She's the princess I was serving before. I was… a Crusader and I trained the greenhorns. And I was assigned to become her bodyguard." He explained with a hesitant tone.

She felt her heart skip a beat but she did not react further. She kept still, pretending not to care. But she wanted to know more so she asked, "Where is she now?"

He was observing her through the corner of his eye and he looked away, turning his head to the side. "She's dead."

"She was killed." She pointed out.

"How did you know?" he demanded, turning to her again.

"I just know. I don't expect you to understand but I _just_ know." She pointed out before she decided to get out of bed. "I need to get out of here." She muttered before rushing to her dressing room to get dressed in her everyday normal clothes… but to her annoyance, all she found were dresses and gowns fit for a Princess like her. "Where are my clothes?" her mind was screaming before picking up a light pink satin empire-cut gown with puffy sleeves. "Like, oh my gawd…" she muttered in disgust.

Skurai remained seated on the bed, waiting for her to come out from the dressing room so that he could follow her out of the room and do his "guarding" duties even though he did not want to.

Fifteen minutes later, she still hasn't come out. "Sara!" he called out impatiently as he got out of bed and walked over to the door of her dressing room. He knocked violently against the wooden door. "Sara!" he called out.

No answer.

He clenched his fists before attempting to open the door, and he was surprised that it was unlocked. He stepped inside, not caring if she could still be indecent or not. She was getting into his nerves.

But to his surprise, there was no one there… and the window was open. "Shit!" he uttered in shock as he ran towards the window and peered outside.

No one there.

"I thought she's still weak?" he reacted in annoyance before jumping out of the window in an attempt to go directly to the ground and start searching for her in case she escaped.

And when Sara figured that he was out of the window, she stepped out of one of her closets with a mean smile on her face. "I'll bet his intelligence level is only 1." She thought before rushing out of her dressing room wearing the satin gown with puffy sleeves. "Gross." She muttered as she passed by a full-length mirror, not used to herself wearing such gowns.

She got her Haeryongdo from under her bed and dragged it with her as she got out of her room. "Papa!" she cried out as she made her way through the hallways leading to the living room where she could hear people laughing as if there was a party in there. She figured that her father could be there entertaining the guests, and upon arrival in the living room, she was right.

She could recognize those people from somewhere in her childhood.

Relatives.

They all fell silent when they sensed that someone was at the door… and they wondered why Sara was holding a sword.

Lord Irine got up from a couch and approached his daughter, "Sara, my dear. Why are you holding that sword? I thought I told you to rest?" he asked gently.

She was stunned as she looked up at her father. She still could not get over the fact that he had already died… and now he was alive and standing before her, looking concerned about her safety and health.

He smiled lovingly at her and gestured for her to put her sword away. "Just put it there for a while and join us here. We missed you, Sara." He told her.

She gazed up at him in wonder before deciding to obey. She let her sword rest against the wall by the door and turned back to her father whose arms were open wide as if waiting for her to come to his embrace. She stood still for a while, staring hard at her father, and then scanning the looks on everybody's faces. They were all smiling, but there seemed to be a distant look in their eyes. "Why are you all smiling?" she asked softly in confusion. She felt like Freya was playing with her. "These people are supposed to have died along with the Fayon when it was destroyed…" she was thinking to herself.

"Give your father a hug, Sara." She heard her mother instruct her. She turned her gaze to her mother who was seated by the piano.

Sara was hesitant before finally walking up to her father and he embraced her. She rested her head on his chest as he patted her back gently. "My dearest daughter." He said softly.

She frowned as her eyes widened upon realizing that she could not hear a heartbeat. And his hands felt strangely cold. She swallowed hard and withdrew from him, looking up at him in shock. "…daddy?" she asked, feeling her heart sinking.

He was still smiling at her.

She reached for his hand, feeling it against hers… and then she tried to feel some pulse on his wrist.

Nothing.

She shivered as she let go of her father and took a few steps backward. She then turned her gaze to her mother and to her other relatives. They had the same smiles on their faces as her father.

"We love you, Sara. You're the only daughter we have." Lord Irine said.

Sara turned her gaze back to her father sharply. "Your _only_ daughter?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Everyone was silent.

"What about Iris?" Sara asked, feeling the need to ask about it. The whole situation was driving her nuts. What could Freya possibly want from these people and she has turned them into zombies?

"Who's Iris?" Lord Irine asked.

Sara's eyes widened. "Iris? Like, my half sister?" she asked.

"What is she talking about, dear?" Sara's mother asked him as she got up from the piano.

"You have no half-sister, Sara. You're my only child!" Lord Irine answered.

"I think you're confused, Sara. You must've had a bad dream while you were asleep this morning." Her mother responded with a gentle smile on her face as she approached her daughter. "Why don't you relax for a while and play us a piece I taught you when you were still a little girl?" she asked sweetly as she led Sara towards the piano.

"…But mother… I…" Sara began, and then grabbed her mother's hand, feeling for any pulse on the wrist.

Sara felt her heart sink when she realized that her mother's hands were cold and that she had no pulse just like Lord Irine. She slowly let go of her mother's hand and she gazed into her eyes with a hurtful look on her face. "Who did this to you?" she asked softly.

Her mother just smiled at her. "This is Freya's will, Sara." She told her gently as she guided her to sit down on the piano stool.

Sara turned to her father as if seeking for answers in his eyes, but they looked so distant. He just smiled at her. "Let's hear you play the piano, Sara." He said gently.

Sara still felt stunned as she stared at the ebony and ivory keys of the piano. "What does Freya really want? Why is she doing this? I'm surrounded by zombies!" she was thinking to herself. And then she remembered Skurai as she began to play the piano mindlessly. "I'll have to talk to Freya…" she thought as she closed her eyes and tried to communicate mentally with her Mistress while playing mindlessly a piece that she had never really.

oOoOo

Skurai could hear the piano playing from inside the Palace and he instantly recognized the tune. He turned back towards the palace, as if drawn to it by the music.

"I've heard that before…" he thought to himself as he started to walk back inside, following the sound until it led him to the living room.

But he did not step inside. He just stood by the doorway, listening and staring at Sara with a look of awe on his face.

And as he observed her, several memories began to flood his head, making him confused. He clenched his fists as he narrowed his eyes on her. "She is… not… her…" he was reminding himself as he grabbed his new sword, the Masamune, and held on tightly to its handle as he stared at Sara.

Sara continued to play, unaware of Skurai's presence. Her audience had their eyes and ears on her, also unaware of his presence.

Sara continued to concentrate. "Mistress, why won't you answer me?" she was thinking as she kept her eyes closed.

Feeling annoyed, she did not bother to finish the piece anymore. She just banged her hands on the keys, creating a distorted noise… but to her surprise, her audience still applauded happily.

"Splendid, Sara!" she heard her father say.

"Encore!"

"Bravo!"

"Play another one!"

"Can you play three more?"

Sara was stunned. "Oh my God. They're… not themselves…" she was thinking as she began to play random notes that did not really make any sense and it became a distorted melody that she had just made up at that time to see if they could understand it. Then she stopped.

They still applauded and begged for an encore.

And they were not being sarcastic.

Sara narrowed her eyes at them and she retorted, "Who are you people?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Silly, we're your family, Sara." Lord Irine answered with a gentle smile on his face.

Sara just got up with a confused look on her face and she ran to get her sword and went to the door, surprised to see Skurai there, but she did not say a word to him. She just ran passed him.

Skurai ran after her, "Sara!" he called out.

"I have to get out of here!" her mind was screaming as she made her way out of the palace with Skurai following close behind her.

As she passed by some people, they all had the same distant looks on their faces. "Damn. They're all zombies just like my parents!" she thought to herself as they greeted her, "Good afternoon, Princess Sara!"

"Good afternoon my ass…" Sara was thinking as she continued to run until she saw the exit to the forests. However, when she tried to run through it, she felt an invisible barrier push her backward against Skurai and the force was so great that he was not able to maintain his balance. They fell onto the ground.

"Argh!" they both reacted in pain and surprise.

Skurai pushed her off of himself and he instantly got up, dusting himself, not caring if he had hurt her. "What the f…?" he approached the exit and touched it. He frowned when he realized that there was an invisible barrier there. "What is this?" he demanded in annoyance.

She rubbed her lower back in annoyance as she got up and dusted herself. "I think someone's trying to prevent us from leaving this place." She told him with a frown on her face, eyeing the exit. She looked up at the skies as if searching for an answer there. "What does Freya want? Why can't she tell me what her plans are?" she was thinking to herself.

Skurai flashed her a mean smile as he turned around to face her again. "Looks like your Mistress has turned against you, huh, _Princess_?" he asked mockingly.

She looked at him. "Everything happens for a reason." She told him simply, and then she felt as if her words had struck her too. And she frowned.

"No. It doesn't." he muttered before turning back towards the exit. "Let's see how dull the blade of this sword is." He said before raising it up and then attempted to slash the barrier.

Skurai waited for a few moments before trying to get his hands through the exit… but it could not go through the invisible barrier. "Curse your goddess!" he cried out in frustration before turning back to her with an angry look on his face.

She just stared blankly at him. "Let's try the other exits." She muttered before turning away from him and proceeded to the other end of the city.

He rolled his eyes before proceeding to follow her. "Why do you want to leave? I thought you're serving your Mistress here by keeping me under your nose?" she demanded with a mocking tone.

"That's what I know. Now I don't know what to think." She admitted frustratingly.

"Ahah. I told you she has turned against you. She is just using you. Why serve that good-for-nothing goddess if all you'll get is this?" he asked.

She just kept quiet.

"And don't tell me that everything happens for a reason because they don't!" He told her impatiently.

"I wasn't saying anything." She muttered, trying to keep her patience as she sped up. "Just keep quiet, Skurai. I don't want to hear anything more from you about Freya." She commanded.

"And what are you going to do about it? As if she would do something bad to me? She is not the one I am worshipping." He said.

"I don't care who your god is; leave mine alone." She responded.

"I have no god." he said with a cold look on his face as he caught up with her and grabbed her by the wrist. "There's no way we can get out of this hell so why bother trying the other exits? Let's just fly off." he told her sternly.

She looked at him with a blank look on her face before shrugging. "You fly first." She said before pulling her wrist away from him.

He smiled slyly at him. "Fine." He said before flying upward… and then upon reaching a certain altitude, he stopped and was pushed a little downward by another invisible force. "Son of bitch!" he cried out in annoyance before landing on the ground before Sara and charged at her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently. "You and your goddess! What do you want from me? Why can't you just let me be? And where is Talatsu?" he demanded angrily.

She shuddered upon seeing the look in his eyes. Rage. She cringed and pushed him away, but when he grabbed her again, she slapped his face. "Bastard! Don't you ever touch me like that again!" she cried out to him.

Skurai was stunned at first but he wondered why nobody else was reacting to their showcase of violence. He looked around, observing how the passersby were behaving. They were acting as if a man and a woman with swords were not even bickering in the middle of the street.

"What's going on with your people?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"They're not mine. I think they belong to Freya now." She said rather hesitantly as she slightly bowed down her head.

"You mean they're hypnotized?" he asked, turning to her.

"They're all dead. They're zombies now. Even my own parents are zombies." She told him.

"What?" he asked in shock.

She saw the way he was reacting and looking at her. "Well… at least he's not under Talatsu's control now…" she thought to herself before turning away. "Every single living person you're seeing in Fayon right now, except for you and I, are zombies." She told him with a slight smile on her face. "I guess this is part of Freya's plan." She decided.

Skurai was not sure but she sounded exasperated when she said that. "But where is Talatsu?" he asked.

"You don't need Talatsu anymore. You have a new weapon. Make use of it." He heard someone answer from behind him.

It was Muninn, and Huginn was standing behind her.

Sara frowned upon seeing them.

"Talatsu will lead me to _her_. Where is Talatsu?" Skurai insisted with an angry look on his face.

Muninn just smiled at him. "You _don't_ need Talatsu anymore, Skurai." She repeated before turning her gaze to Sara. "Hello, Sara. My, my. That dress suits you well. Especially when your hair isn't in a ponytail… just like your current hairdo right now." She said.

Sara just turned away.

"Princesses shouldn't act that way, Sara. You should be thankful that someone's giving you good compliments." Muninn told her.

"Well, haven't you heard of _spoiled_ Princesses?" Sara responded arrogantly, rolling her eyes.

Muninn chuckled lightly. "Silly Sara. You weren't spoiled before as a Princess." She said.

"I was never a Princess. Iris was the Princess and I was just… a nobody." Sara muttered. "And Papa favored her more than me…" she thought silently with a bitter look on her face. "Everybody in this town is better off dead. But they're alive. Is this really Freya's plan or maybe Odin's plan?" Sara asked, feeling suspicious about the presence of Muninn and Huginn.

"I'm afraid we cannot tell you." Muninn said with a singsong tone. "You need to learn how to face your fears, Sara. Only then will you know the truth." She added.

"Fears? What fears? I don't fear anything!" Sara protested, turning back to them with an angry look on her face. "You're just playing with my mind!" she told them.

"If that's what you want to think, Sara. It looks like you'll be staying in this city for years if you don't figure it out for yourself." Muninn said before she and Huginn finally disappeared.

Sara and Skurai just stood still for a moment, thinking of what else to do.

"Argh! Goddammit! I need Talatsu! Where did you hide him?" Skurai demanded, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"What do you need it for? I think you're better off without him because you're saner and you look more decent without that effing sword!" she snapped before she turned and walked away. "I'm going home. If you want to try getting out of here then do so. I won't stop you." She told him.

Skurai just watched her walk away from him. He rolled his eyes. "Don't mind if I do." He muttered before levitating upward again to try to cut the barrier.

Sara could sense him doing several attempts to cut the barrier around Fayon even as she arrived in her bedroom and sat down on her bed, contemplating on herself and on what Freya could possibly want from her.

…and then she began to think of Titania. She shook her head in annoyance. "No. I can't be her! That's impossible!" she told herself as she got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned when she studied her image. Then she noticed her bandaged wrist and looked at it for quite some time. "If Skurai wasn't nice enough, he would just leave me bleeding to death. But he treated my wound." She looked up at her face again in the reflection on the mirror. "Or maybe he has an agenda of his own." She muttered. He turned away from the mirror and walked over to the window. Her view overlooked the whole town and she could see Skurai flying up, and then trying his best to slice open the barrier. And nobody cared.

"This really is a ghost town now." She thought miserably as she bowed down her head, remembering her parents from the living room.

"Sara," she heard a voice say from the door.

She instantly turned to the door and saw his father standing there with a solemn look on his face, but his eyes still gave off a kind of gaze that gave her the impression that he had no soul and that he was just a puppet now. She swallowed hard. "…Papa," she said softly.

Lord Irine examined the look on her face. "You look sad, my Sara. Why?" he asked.

She clenched her fists as she fully faced him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

He just smiled at her.

"Is Freya the one manipulating you?" she demanded as she walked over to him with a threatening look on her face.

Lord Irine bowed down his head and took Sara in his arms, surprising her.

He smiled bitterly, although his eyes were still lifeless. "Everything you have ever wanted is being granted by the goddess." He whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened upon hearing that.

"Everything your heart has ever desired." He elaborated.

Sara gasped slightly upon remembering that as a child, she had hoped to live in the palace with her mother and father. And in her childhood, she knew she had no sister. "So that's why… he doesn't know who Iris is now…" she thought silently. She did not know whether she should get angry or happy or what. Why is Freya doing this to her?

"But… you're dead!" she told him with a trembling tone.

He just nodded sadly.

Sara withdrew from her father with a confused look on her face.

"I love you Sara. Papa just wants you to be happy." He told her gently.

Sara could not understand the sudden whirl of emotions taking over her. And she just began to cry and she embraced her father tightly. "Papa," she cried out.

_Everything your heart has ever desired_…

"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings before, Sara," he said softly as he embraced her back.

She just continued to cry. She felt that what he had just said really came from his heart and not just because it was programmed into his mind as a puppet controlled by Freya's will and power.

"I love you too, Papa. And I'm sorry…" Sara said softly.

They did not even notice Skurai watching them from the window… and he was eyeing Sara with disdain.


	6. You Owe Me Tonight

Be Blinded by the Truth

By generalquistis

Chapter Six: You Owe Me Tonight

"I think we're finally here." Chaos declared upon gazing at the reconstructed Fayon.

"How… did this happen?" Fenris asked as she looked at the walls of the city and then looked up at the tall edifices from outside the walls where she and the rest of her companions were standing.

Iris just stared wide-eyed.

Loki frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this." He muttered.

"Like what?" Lydia asked.

Loki was silent as he turned his gaze to the sword that he had been dragging along with him with a rope. Nobody dared to touch it because when Iris tried to, she thought she felt her hand burning. Lydia just quickly tied a rope around its handle so that they could just drag it and not be able to touch it. "I think we should just leave this here." He told them.

"He's right." Fenris decided, eyeing Talatsu with a frown on her face.

"Why?" Lydia asked stubbornly. "We could sell it and earn more Zeny!" she told them.

"No one else can even touch it without hurting himself. Only Skurai can get away with this sword." Fenris replied.

"But if we leave it here, wouldn't it be more dangerous if somebody else finds it and gets injured?" Chaos asked, although unsure.

Fenris and Loki exchanged looks before looking at Fayon once more. The guards standing from within the walls by the entrance did not seem to care whether there were spectators outside.

"These guards seem to be irresponsive." Chaos began as he approached one of them, "Good evening, sirs!" he greeted cheerfully.

Silence.

Iris approached them with a curious look on her face, "They're… they're alive! I thought they died when Fayon was destroyed?" she asked in awe.

The guards turned to her with blank looks on their faces. "Welcome to Fayon, ma'am." They greeted in unison.

Silence.

"Don't you recognize me?" Iris asked weakly.

"Do you know them?" Lydia asked.

"They've been the guards assigned in this gate ever since I was a little girl! This is where I used to pass if I want to go training in the forest. Don't you remember them, Chaos?" Iris asked.

Chaos blinked and stared at their faces. He raised his eyebrows. "Well… yeah. But I didn't recognize them because they didn't greet me!" he told them.

"Hey, it's me, Iris. Don't you remember me? I'm Iris Irine!" Iris told the guards.

The guards just looked at her blankly. "State your relationship to the Irines." One of the told her.

Iris frowned slightly. "I'm… Lord Irine's daughter. I'm Iris, remember?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"Very funny, ma'am. Lord Irine's daughter is in the palace and resting." The guard answered sternly.

"Resting? But I'm right here!" Iris protested.

Fenris took a step forward. "We're sorry, sir, but our companion here has a mental illness and we need to seek medical assistance from your city. Is there an infirmary near this area?" she asked.

Iris looked up at her in awe. "I'm not…" she began to protest.

Loki stepped forward and nudged her in the way, signaling for her to keep quiet and let them handle the situation. Iris just kept quiet, realizing that if she insisted that she is Lord Irine's daughter, they will never be allowed to enter the city and investigate on why it has been reconstructed.

To their awe, the guards smiled at them kindly. "Step inside our humble city, oh wonderful travelers!" they said as they stepped aside to let them in.

Silence.

Lydia made a face. "You guys go. I'll stay here and wait for you." She said, eyeing the guards with a suspicious look on her face.

"You sure?" Chaos asked.

"While you're at it, you can guard Talatsu." Fenris told her as she grabbed the rope from Loki and handed it to Lydia. But Lydia would not even touch it. "Ack… okay, I'll guard _that thing_!" she told them with a disgusted look on her face.

"And while you're also at it, you can wait for Reina. She said she'll follow." Chaos told her before stepping inside the city.

Iris, Fenris and Loki followed after him.

Lydia watched them with an unsure look on her face before turning her gaze to the sword. "Hey, maybe you could give me some potions so that if this thing moves by itself and tries to kill me, I can heal myself!" she called out to them.

"You still have potions, Lydia." Iris protested with a frown on her face.

"Just give her one to make her shut up…" Chaos muttered.

Iris sighed heavily before reaching for her pocket to pull out a small vial of potion. She was supposed to walk over to Lydia who was still outside the city premises, but when she tried to get through the gateway, an invisible barrier seemed to hold her back. "Oh!" she reacted in surprised upon realizing that she could not even get past the gateway.

"What's wrong?" Lydia asked as she approached.

"No, no! Don't come near here!" Iris told her.

Lydia stopped in her tracks.

Chaos, Loki and Fenris ran over to Iris and tried to get out of the city, but they could not. There was an invisible barrier.

"What is going on?" Chaos demanded from the guards.

The guards would not answer. They just stared straight ahead into nothingness as if they could not even hear anything.

"I don't like this at all…" Fenris said, shivering as she looked around. People were going about their daily business as if nothing was wrong. "It's almost like we're surrounded by zombies…" she declared.

"I know these people! I see them everyday!" Iris said as she ran over to one of the fruit vendors. "Hey, Mister Randolf!" she greeted.

The said Mister Randolf just stared blankly at her. "May I help you?" he asked, as if he never knew her.

Iris was taken aback. She turned to the other citizens whom she could easily recognize, but they were looking at her like they never even knew her.

"Hey, what about me? What am I going to do here?" Lydia called out to them from outside.

"Whatever you do, don't come in here. If Reina arrives, tell her not to step inside this city. Wait for us to come back there. Ask her too if she knows any spell that can remove this barrier." Fenris instructed sternly.

Lydia was already nervous. "…Well, alright… just… hurry with whatever it is you're going to do there!" she said with a slight pout.

"Why can't we try removing this barrier from here?" Chaos asked.

"Because it is being controlled by someone whose power is already within this city ever since _she_ rebuilt this." Loki explained with a serious look on his face.

"_She_?" Iris asked, turning back to them.

"Sara?" Chaos asked.

Loki shook his head. "No. Not Sara. Someone else… but I cannot put my finger on it right now…" he said as he eyed the palace.

Iris frowned and clenched her fists. "I want to go to the palace. If everyone who died before is alive then I'll bet my father is there! I'll talk to him and ask him what's going on!" she told them before going ahead of them.

"Iris, wait up!" Chaos called out as he followed after her.

Loki and Fenris just stood still from where they are.

"Shall we take a look around town and observe?" Fenris invited.

Loki nodded.

With that, they began to explore.

oOoOo

_"Wake up. I'm just around you. Find me. Take me back. I need her blood, Skurai. She's the one I've been looking for all these years! Kill her for me and once you do, you'll be released from the chains that had bound you to me…"_

Upon hearing Talatsu's voice, Skurai instantly opened his eyes and sat up on his bed. "Talatsu?" he murmured, his blue-grey eyes wide in awe.

"_Find me…_"

He could still hear the voice of Talatsu in his head.

_"Her blood, Skurai… take me to her. The Valkyrie's blood… once I fully taste it, you can finally see your beloved Princess._"

Skurai grinned evilly as he instantly got out of bed and rushed outside the door.

From Sara's room, she turned away from her dresser when she heard and sensed Skurai running in the hallway. She frowned, realizing that something was wrong. She instantly got up and put down her brush with a suspicious look on her face. She went over to one corner of her room to get her Haeryongdo and instantly went after him. "Skurai!" she called out.

But he did not listen to her. He just thought, "Ahahah! Come on, follow me. I'll lead you to Talatsu!"

Sara just continued to run after him, but as she passed by the veranda, she stopped in her tracks when she recognized, from the corner of her eye, Iris Irine with Chaos, and they were talking to Lord Irine.

Sara felt enraged upon seeing her younger sister once again but she decided to stay hidden from the doorway leading to the veranda and just listen from behind one of the pillars unnoticed.

"Dad, don't you recognize me?" Iris asked with a pleading tone.

"Iris, it's no use. I think he's been brainwashed." Chaos told her.

"But Chaos, how could a father forget his own daughter?" Iris demanded with a tone that seemed to falter.

Sara narrowed her eyes and her lips formed a scornful pout upon hearing that. "Now you know how it feels like to be neglected by your own father, Iris." She was thinking to herself. She remembered feeling that way on the day that she realized that the elders of Fayon wanted to kill her for some kind of blood sacrifice with a purpose she had never truly understood for the past 12 years that she had been devising a plan of revenge against her father and the rest of Fayon.

She remembered what her father told her the other day: "_Everything your heart has ever desired."_

And being with her father once again made her realize her mistake, until she gave in and ended up forgiving her father for the mistake committed 12 years ago. After all, he is alive right now and she's living in the Palace with him and her mother…

However, Sara could not get over the fact that they were zombies and when her parents would show love and affection towards her, she would doubt whether it came from their hearts or not because they could just be mere puppets of Freya. Sara felt like Fayon has turned into a big stage and everyone is an actor… and she and Skurai are also being forced to act because the director, Freya, wanted them to.

"But you should be happy you're with your family, Sara." She reminded herself silently before proceeding to listen to the conversation in the veranda.

"I don't recall having a daughter like you. I only have one and her name is Sara." Lord Irine finally revealed to Iris.

Iris and Chaos were surprised upon hearing that. "What?" the former demanded.

Sara smiled slightly. "Ouch." She thought mockingly as she rolled her eyes before finally revealing herself. "Papa," she began.

They all turned to look at her. Iris and Chaos stared at her in awe, and he alerted himself when he realized that the Valkyrie was holding the Haeryongdo.

Iris frowned at Sara. "What have you done to my father?" she sneered.

"Pardon me, Iris, but he happens to be my father too." Sara reminded her with a sly smile on her face.

Iris attempted to charge at her sister but Chaos held her back. "No. She's armed." He warned her.

"I'm glad you know where you stand, Asgardian." Sara told him coolly before flipping her hair as she approached Lord Irine.

Lord Irine smiled gently at her. "My Princess." He said, welcoming her in open arms.

Sara embraced her father and he embraced her back. "Going training again?" he asked her.

"I'm supposed to. But I see I have guests here." Sara fibbed with a sly look on her face before moving away from her father to face Chaos and Iris once again. "I shall attend to them, daddy. Just go back to your business." She presented with a serious look on her face.

Lord Irine nodded. "Very well." He said before proceeding to leave, "Oh yes, I'll throw a party for you and your guests tonight so that we could have something to do for later on." He told her before he completely disappeared through the doorway.

When they were sure that he had gone already, Iris turned to Sara again with a scornful look on her face. "What have you done to daddy?" she asked with an exasperated tone.

Sara just looked at her coldly. "He's not our father. He's just a zombie moving like a puppet." She said softly. The truth was hard for her too but she knew she had to tell Iris.

"What do you mean?" Chaos asked.

"Everybody here in Fayon… except for I, you and Iris and Skurai are already dead. They're just alive for a reason." Sara began.

"Well then what is that reason?" Iris demanded.

"Freya's will." Sara said before she turned around with a confused look on her face. "I myself do not understand it but as long as we're here in Fayon, we cannot leave. There's an invisible barrier around this place and you can try cutting it with your swords or dispelling it with your magic but nothing will work. Freya is the one controlling the whole city and its deceased citizens." She explained.

"But why? Why Fayon? Why not… another place?" Iris asked, already in the verge of tears.

Sara frowned and bowed down her head. "Because this is where I lived." She muttered.

Iris and Chaos were confused by her answer.

Sara looked up at the high ceiling. "_Everything your heart has ever desired_." She told them. "That's what it is." She turned to face them again. "This is what I've always wanted and Freya has given it to me." She approached Iris with a sad smile on her face. "When I was a little girl, I've always hoped to live in this Palace with father and my mother. I wanted to become a Princess because he said I was one. But just being with my mother and father was enough for me, even if we had to live in a house away from this big palace where you grew up." She gazed down into her sister's eyes. "You're not the only one who loved daddy, Iris. I loved him too. But everything was taken away from me. My hopes and dreams as a child. And you know what else? They did not tell me about you." She sneered.

Iris took a deep breath as she looked up into her sister's cold blue eyes. She could sense too much wrath in them coming from her soul. "You don't understand, Sara. I knew you. I knew all about you when we were children. But the elders made me forget everything. I don't know why but…" she began, but Sara turned away from her. "Oh Sara, please listen to me! Daddy

Tried to explain everything but he didn't get to finish it because you… you attacked him… and…" she still continued.

"Just stay out of my sight. I need to find Skurai." Sara snapped at her before she proceeded to leave.

"Daddy loved you too, Sara. He saved your life from that fiend! Now I don't know what you're doing in Fayon with that… that fiend, Skurai!" Iris said, running after her.

Sara kept on walking with Iris trailing from behind her. "I don't need to hear from you that daddy loves me. I've already forgiven him for his sins. What sickens me is the memory of the past. Stop reminding me about it. Whenever I see you I am reminded of the hate I have on our father!" she snapped.

"But Sara, why are you working with Skurai? What if he just kills you and daddy? And where is my mother?" Iris demanded.

"Your mother is in the house where I once lived. You can go visit her there. And Skurai cannot kill me. I'm under Freya's protection." Sara said airily.

"Why trust Freya when she's up to no good?" Iris snapped.

Sara stopped walking to face her sister. Iris stopped before her and said, "You're blinded by your inner hatred of me and everybody else, Sara. That's why all you do is hurt people and yourself!"

"Why would I even hurt myself?" Sara demanded.

"Didn't you even feel the least bit sorry for yourself or for daddy when he saved your life from that _fiend_ Skurai? That fiend was supposed to stab you with his Talatsu but daddy wielded you away from his target! Talatsu wants your blood, Sara, can't you see that? And he's using that fiend to get to you!" Iris asked.

Sara frowned at her. She suddenly felt annoyed. "Stop calling him a _fiend_!" she snapped.

"Well isn't he one?" Iris argued.

Sara pushed her away. "Don't you ever call him that again!" she snapped angrily, surprising both her own sister and Chaos.

"You're really serious about working with Skurai, aren't you?" Chaos said with a suspicious look on his face as he stepped forward and he stood between her and Iris. "Tell us the truth. You don't want any of this. This is creepy! Your father is dead, Sara!" he told her.

"Why should I give up something I have always wanted as a child?" Sara sneered.

"You _wanted_ Skurai as a child?" Chaos asked in disbelief.

Sara just stiffened as her frown deepened. "This is Freya's will. She probably wants to make him her new warrior. My task is to guard him and make sure Talatsu stays away from him so that that sword's curse will finally cease from him." She told him.

"The curse will never be lifted until Talatsu tastes the blood that can truly quench its thirst. And for your information, we brought Talatsu along with us…" he began, but Sara's reaction made him stop. She approached him with a sudden look of horror on her face. "You foolish… why did you do that?" she demanded, but she did not wait for an answer anymore. She ran off before any of them could answer.

"Sara! Wait!" Iris called out as she ran after her.

Sara just ignored her and continued to run. She has to find Skurai before Talatsu can lure him.

Finally, she reached one of the entrances and saw Skurai struggling to claw his way through the barrier, but it was no use. The barrier was much too strong.

Talatsu was floating in front of him and the only thing separating them was the barrier.

Skurai had gone berserk. He was screaming wildly as he continued to claw his way through the barrier.

Chaos and Iris saw what was going on and they saw Lydia just standing outside, behind Talatsu and watching in awe. She would not dare touch the sword.

Sara ran to Skurai, trying to hold him back. "Stop that! You know you cannot do that!" she snapped angrily at him.

"Let me out of here! Talatsu will take me to her! I don't need you!" Skurai screamed wildly as he struggled to break free from Sara's clutches. Sara was obviously having a hard time because he was physically stronger than her and he was obviously taller and bigger.

"_There she is, Skurai. Hold her down and render her unconscious. Then I'll hypnotize this girl over here to push me inside there so I can go through the barrier and we can finally be together again! And finally, I can taste that Valkyrie's blood… and you can be free!" _Talatsu was telling Skurai. Unfortunately, Sara was able to hear it for a reason that she could not understand.

"Don't listen to it!" Sara warned, turning her gaze towards Lydia. "Run away! Get away from here before that sword tells you what it wants you to do…" she began to tell Lydia.

Lydia just stared at Sara in awe and then back at Talatsu. Though confused, she just signaled for Sessy to follow her. "C'mon!" she ran off.

Skurai was really enraged now. "NO!" he screamed shrilly before grabbing Sara by her arms and then threw her against the barrier.

The barrier was like a hard wall and it hurt her. She felt like she had been thrown against a hard brick wall.

"Sara!" Iris ran to her sister and tried to help her up.

Skurai was panting hard as he glared angrily at Sara Irine. "I am going to kill you!" he growled at her.

Sara just narrowed her eyes at him as she inhaled sharply. Pain.

Skurai's facial expression suddenly changed when he saw the look of suffering in her eyes. It looked so achingly familiar… and he began to have those flashbacks again regarding his Princess… "Stop distracting me… stop looking at me like that!" he cried out to Sara before he turned and ran off back to the Palace.

"Sis, are you alright?" Iris asked with a concerned look on her face as she began to feel the back of Sara's head for injuries.

Sara pushed her away. "Stay away from me." She hissed coldly before struggling to stand up.

"Let me at least check if you're bleeding somewhere…" Iris began as she got hold of Sara's hand. Sara pushed her away, "I said, stay away from me! Stop acting so concerned about me; I know you hate me for what I did to our father!" she snapped angrily.

Iris swallowed hard as she gazed into Sara's eyes with a look of awe in her face. "Sara, I don't hate you… I can never hate you even I try to…" she began.

"Well why can't you?" Sara demanded as she stepped away from Iris and dusted herself.

Iris swallowed hard as she bowed down her head while trying to stop her own tears from falling. "…because you're my older sister. Half or not, I don't care now. Daddy even told me not to hate you whatever happens." She said softly.

Sara just eyed her disdainfully before turning away. "You make me sick." She muttered in annoyance before running off, proceeding back to the palace.

Iris sniffed and wiped her tears away. Chaos approached her. "You okay, Iris?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.

She just swallowed hard, watching her sister run.

Chaos turned to the entrance. Talatsu was on the floor again. He frowned. "Oh well… as long as that sword remains outside, I don't think Skurai can harm anyone." He thought before turning back to Iris. "Iris," he began.

Iris ignored him and just ran, following after Sara. Chaos went after her, although he was being bothered by Iris's behavior.

oOoOo

Skurai arrived at the Palace and he realized that it was brightly-lit, like all the lights and torches were lit as if there was a special occasion going on.

Like a party.

He could hear classical Fayon music being played by an orchestra from one of the big rooms of the palace and when he arrived there, he was surprised to see a lot of people socializing, drinking, eating and dancing. "What the f…" he muttered, but was interrupted when he sensed Sara standing beside him and panting, also gazing in awe at the party. Skurai frowned at her and he grabbed her wrist, grasping it tightly that she winced in pain. It was her injured wrist too.

"Ah. Let me go…" Sara warned with an annoyed look on her face as she tried to break free from his hurtful grasp.

Skurai just smiled coldly at her, his grip tightening. He enjoyed looking at her when she was experiencing pain. She placed the blade of her Haeryongdo against his neck. He froze.

"Let go of me if you don't want me to hurt you." She sneered.

He just smiled slyly at her, "Do you really want to hurt me?" he asked with a playful tone.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Put down that sword if you don't want people to get suspicious." He warned her.

"What people? They're all zombies." Skurai told her. "Put that sword away and let's join the party." He said as he guided the sword away from his neck and dragged Sara inside the ballroom.

Lord Irine and Lady Irine smiled as they saw their daughter enter. "Sara," the latter called out.

Sara and Skurai turned to them. "Mother," Sara began as she pulled away from Skurai and approached them. Skurai just stood still in the middle of the ballroom, observing her as she walked.

Lord Irine got the sword from Sara. "What are you doing with this sword, Sara?" he asked with concern.

"You should be enjoying the party. Where are your friends?" Lady Irine asked.

Sara was in awe. "I… I was just out training late with Skurai… my friends are on their way. I think they're just freshening up." She fibbed uncomfortably before glancing back at Skurai, checking if he was still there. He was. And he was eyeing her threateningly. Her parents, however, did not seem to notice that Skurai was giving her deadly stares. She just shrugged it off and turned back to her parents. "If you'll excuse me. I think I need to discuss something with my guardian." She said before curtseying and proceeded back to Skurai with a stern look on her face, but as she continued to walk to him, the sternness on her face was slowly turning into a smile… at least that's what Skurai could see. His facial expression softened and he stared at her in awe as if it was the first time he had seen her smile at him like that… a smile that he had seen from another person…from his past.

Sara looked at him in wonder as she neared him. "Why's he looking at me like that?" she thought, raising an eyebrow at him. And he offered his hand to her as if he wanted her to dance with him. She frowned at him. "What is he thinking?" she thought in confusion before gazing around. Everyone was looking at them. "Oh well… if this is part of the act and he's playing along…" she thought silently before taking his hand.

From the doorway, Chaos and Iris were in awe upon seeing the two dancing.

As they were dancing, Sara was gazing into his eyes, and then studied his face. "Well… he's cute but… that Goth make-up has got to go…" she was thinking to herself with a skeptical look on her face.

For some reason, he seemed to be mesmerized by her or something… because he was smiling lovingly at her. She shivered and swallowed hard. "This guy's nuts. He's really giving me the creeps now… I wonder what he's thinking of. Moments ago he told me he's going to kill me but now he's looking at me like… Oh I don't even wanna think about it!" she thought silently to herself.

"I thought he hates her? How come they're dancing?" Iris asked with a confused look on her face as she and Chaos began to blend in with the others.

"Beats me. Let's observe them…" Chaos told her.

Iris just stood still, staring at Sara and Skurai with a bothered look on her face.

Chaos offered his hand to her. "Let's dance near them." He told her.

She looked up at him in awe and embarrassment. She blushed. He smiled at her. She bit her lower lip as she looked away and took his hand. With that, they began to dance, making sure they were close to Sara and Skurai who were in the middle of the ballroom.

The lights began to dim and Skurai held Sara closer to himself. Sara felt her heart sink. The feeling felt so familiar… and it seemed to her that he had her for a moment, and she was beginning to swoon but she froze when she heard him say, "Titania…"

She swallowed hard, her eyes widening in surprise. She felt the blood drain from her face as she heard the voice of that woman again in her head. This time, it sounded like her, "_Take me away, my love…to a far-away land where we can be happy and free…"_

Skurai heard it too. "_As long as we have each other, that's all we need…"_

Chaos and Iris stopped dancing and they stared at Sara in awe. They watched as her facial expression softened and her lips moved _again_ to speak, "_Will you take me away? My dear, my love, Skurai…"_

"Oh my gawd…" Iris uttered in shock. Chaos's jaw just dropped.

Sara had this dazed look in her face and she smiled lovingly at Skurai as she rested her head on his shoulder. "_Darling, my undying love is yours…for eternity._" She said softly.

Skurai's eyes widened and he pushed her away from himself.

Sara just stood still, her blue eyes wide in shock as she stared at Skurai. What happened to her?

Confused, she just ran out of the ballroom and went back to her own room.

Skurai stood still, trembling in confusion as he stared wide-eyed at the floor. Chaos and Iris stared at him in awe, wondering what had just happened. They were just interrupted when Lord Irine approached them. "Where's Sara?" he asked.

Iris did not know how to answer.

Skurai turned his gaze to Lord Irine. "I'm afraid the Princess is not feeling well, sire." He answered.

Lord Irine sighed heavily. "She must've exhausted herself from training. Why don't you go and check on her and make sure she's alright?" he asked.

Skurai just nodded.

"I'll go with you," Iris presented.

Skurai looked at her. "Sara doesn't like you so stay away." He said warningly.

"Well she doesn't like you either!" Iris snapped back.

Skurai sneered at her and just walked away, ignoring her remark. "Don't worry, Miss Irine, I won't hurt your sister. For now, at least. Ahahahah…" he laughed mockingly.

Iris frowned at him, clenching her fists.

Lord Irine patted her shoulder. "I don't know why you don't like Skurai, miss. But he's really a good guardian to my daughter." He said.

Iris froze as she looked up at Lord Irine in awe. He smiled at her. "You know, if I could have another daughter, I'd like her to look just like you." He said gently.

Iris felt her heart sinking upon hearing that. She just smiled bitterly at him. "My father was just like you, Lord Irine… he's really nice…" she said softly before turning to Chaos and took his hand. "C'mon, let's get out of here and look for Loki and Fenris." She said, leading the way out of the ballroom.

Chaos saw tears falling from her eyes but he refused to say anything.

oOoOo

Sara, upon entering her room, slammed the door shut and rushed to her dresser and glared at her reflection on the mirror. "WHO ARE YOU?" she screamed angrily at herself before punching the glass with her bare right fist. The impact of her fist to the mirror and the shards that flew off when it broke injured her hand. She was crying, but she hoped that nobody would see her. But she was not sad. She was angry. As tears fell from her eyes, the scornful look on her face seemed to reflect more and more of her inner hate for everything around her… and now, even for herself.

"Freya!" she screamed, wishing for an answer. Obviously, there was no answer.

Still she went on, "Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to you to deserve this?" she fell down on her knees and covered her face as she continued to cry. She was thinking, "I want out of this deal… I want you to make my parents dead again… I want to be free from this… I want to go back to Valhalla… I want everything here to just go away!" but towards the end, she began to fear those thoughts.

"_Princess_,"

Sara stopped sobbing when she heard Skurai's voice from behind her. She was about to turn around but she froze because he embraced her from behind.

She thought she could seek comfort from him, but he heard him sneer at her, "I know you're not Titania… and I hate the way you impersonate her. But is that all you can do? Deceive me?" he breathed in her scent. "God, you even smell like her!" he told her in disdain before grabbing hold of her bleeding hand and stared at the wounds, watching the blood trickling down from them. "And your blood…" he said softly.

_"Her blood, Skurai…_"

He thought he heard Talatsu speak to him somewhere.

Sara clenched her fists struggled to move away from him, but he held her tightly against him as he began to get up, taking her along with him. "Let go of me…" she muttered in annoyance.

"Talatsu… he needs your blood so I can be free! I must bring you to him!" he insisted, but she fought back, struggling against him as he tried to drag her towards the door.

"Damn it! Listen to yourself! Why did you let that goddamn sword take hold of your soul and consciousness? You're nothing but a puppet of Talatsu because of what you're doing! Do you still think you have any sort of worth while you're under his curse?" she demanded angrily as she tried to pull away from him.

"How dare you! You don't know anything about me and what I've been through…" he snapped at her with a demented look on his face.

"Talatsu will do you no good! You must follow me instead! I can lead you to your goddamn princess through Freya's will!" she snapped impatiently as elbowed him. She hit his diaphragm area, causing him to forcefully cough out some air. When he released her, she began to look for Haeryongdo, but it was nowhere to be found. She recalled it was with her father in the ballroom. Instead, she got the Shinryongdo and pointed it towards him. "Stay away from me and don't you ever touch me like that ever again!" she snapped at him with tears in her eyes. She could not understand why she was crying and why she was feeling that a part of her wanted to run back to him and just stay in his arms for good.

Skurai eyed her angrily. "You're pretty stubborn yourself…" he muttered, seemingly unthreatened by Sara's weapon and anger pointed towards him. He still ran to her, quickly avoiding her attacks and then grabbed hold of her right wrist and twisted it so that she would let go of her weapon. The Shinryongdo fell to the ground.

She yelped in pain and it was music to his ears, but somehow, he felt bad about hurting her. He brought her closer to himself again, embracing her tightly. He stared into her eyes. "Sara Irine… say the last of your prayers to your goddess. Talatsu is waiting for you outside…" he sneered.

She clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't listen to him. He's not here…" she said in a hoarse whisper. He pulled her hair, making her hiss in pain. "You can hurt me all you want but I'll never let you near that goddamn sword!" she snapped at him.

This made him angrier that in fury, he just threw her against the wall. But she did not even react out loud in pain. She just inhaled sharply before she slid down to the floor and fell on her stomach, struggling to get up.

Skurai had this insane smile on his face as he stared down at her mercilessly.

She slowly got up, panting hard and eyeing him with a restless look on her face. She was weak and she could not understand how she ended up that way. "…Skurai…" she just said in a voice that seemed to falter as she staggered towards him. The way she mentioned his name and the look on her face made him frozen on his spot and his smile slowly faded away.

Sara reached him and held onto his arms for support. She kept her eyes on his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You dreaded Skurai… go ahead and take me to your goddamn sword. Let's see if you can reach it in time before I can _kill you myself_!" she said softly as her facial expression softened in sarcasm.

He looked down at her coldly and lowered her head to hers until his lips was only a centimeter away from hers. He breathed out a sigh against her lips, "You owe me tonight…" but she did not let him finish. She moved herself closer to him and initiated a kiss. She did not understand herself on why she had to do that, but she felt a very strong urge from deep inside of her to do so. She even felt like she had done such a thing like that before… but she could not remember when.

Skurai thought his heart had stopped beating. The feeling of her lips against his felt so familiar and his eyes widened upon coming to this realization. He tried to push her away from him but she held on still, as if not wanting to let him go or for him to let go of her. When he knew he could not resist anymore, he just held on tightly to her, gripping her arms with neither feeling of endearment nor care even as he began to return her kiss and closed his eyes. But his kisses were hard and violent. She was surprised at first but she got used to it. After all, he has been inflicting pain in her ever since… what? She was not sure anymore. Her thoughts were lost as they fell to her bed.

But when he said, "Don't worry, Sara. I'll take care of you tonight…"

She just thought, "I wish I could believe you…" and surrendered to him…

oOoOo

The two were oblivious to Muninn who was watching them for a short while before turning her attention to her companion, Huginn, who was outside the premises of Fayon just standing by the gate. Muninn gave the signal, waving her hand. Huginn kicked Talatsu towards the gate and it slid through.

The two disappeared, leaving the sword. It was finally inside Fayon…

oOoOo

Author's note: The words _"You owe me tonight_" come from the song "Swallow Drive" by the band Rampqueen. So you see, the near-end of this chapter was kinda inspired by the song. If you just happened to stumble upon this fic because you Googled the name of the band or the name of the song and you happen to be a fan of the band or you are one of the band members themselves (PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!) –cries-….. well… I can dedicate this to you. (hides in embarrassment).


End file.
